


Pride and Prejudice

by pls_let_me_in



Category: RIORDAN Rick - Works
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - Pride and Prejudice Fusion, Established Percy Jackson/Annabeth Chase, Multi, No Smut, Slow Burn, background Jason Grace/Piper McLean - Freeform, but it's not a traditional siblings thing, i needed it to include some of the originals plotlines, now back with the real tags, piper mclean and will solace are siblings, the omegaverse part is very background
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-04
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-15 04:08:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 36,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28557393
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pls_let_me_in/pseuds/pls_let_me_in
Summary: this is a pride and prejudice au, but although it doesn't always follow that plot! first because i haven't read the book in a while, and second because it would be a bit boring for me to write if it did. i hope you like it, as i had a lot of fun when i was writing!
Relationships: Nico di Angelo/Will Solace
Comments: 29
Kudos: 39





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

> this is a pride and prejudice au, but although it doesn't always follow that plot! first because i haven't read the book in a while, and second because it would be a bit boring for me to write if it did. i hope you like it, as i had a lot of fun when i was writing!

PART ONE

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single Alpha in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a spouse. So one can only imagine Mrs. Solace’s delight, when such a man arrived in their neighborhood.

She had been married to Mr. Solace for not many years, as they had both been widowed, driven together by the struggles of being single parents. They lived with the children they had both previously had–four from Mrs. Solace’s previous marriage, three from Mr. Solace’s–and the one they’d had together, who was only seven years old.

The first thing Mrs. Solace did as soon as she knew of the newly arrived, was telling her dear husband. Although it couldn’t be said that they were madly and deeply in love, friendship had remained between them. Sometimes, at least. In other times, such as this, Mrs. Solace’s insistence annoyed Mr. Solace beyond measure. However, as many other times, his anger had melted into sarcastic amusement.

“Have you heard, Mr. Solace?” She asked, once again, gripping the armrests of the chair, bouncing her leg up and down. “Have you heard who bought Netherfield?”

“I have not,” he admitted. “Although I have reason to think, you will tell me in a few instants.”

“Oh, Mr. Solace, must you always play with me? Do you not know what it does to my nerves?” She fanned her face, her gaze dancing around the room. “You should be delighted at the prospect of finally having one of our children married!”

Mr. Solace abandoned the book he had been reading on the desk, and walked to the window. He caught sight of his aged reflection in the glass. “I know who has bought Netherfield. He has also already arrived.”

“He has? Oh dear, Mr. Solace, you must introduce him to–”

“I have introduced myself already,” he interrupted her. His wife gasped, and he couldn’t hide a smile. “And I have learnt that he makes £5,000 a year.”

Mrs. Solace covered her mouth with her hands, as laughter exploded from behind the closed door. Far too loud and clear to be coming from any other part of the house. When Mr. Solace opened the door with one smooth move, their children almost fell to the ground.

“If anything is to happen,” he said, his voice strong enough to be heard over their giggles. “I believe it will happen at tomorrow’s ball.”

“Mr. Solace, you must–” Mrs. Solace started, only to be interrupted by her daughter Piper.

“Are we going, father?”

Mr. Solace’s smile widened. Chaos among the children erupted.

The assembly rooms often held balls. It was already crowded inside, the whole neighborhood had been invited, and no one would refuse, when they knew that a rich and single man would be present. Will arrived with his siblings, but they quickly scattered around, leaving him alone.

Mr. Solace squeezed Will’s shoulder as he passed by him, leaning closer to whisper into his ear where he’d be going. Will wasn’t surprised to learn that his father would be with his old-time friends, although Mrs. Solace was looking around to find the newly arrived man.

“Lou Ellen!” Will exclaimed, as soon as he saw his friend, moving in her direction through the crowd.

She smiled, nodding in his direction. She was a Beta the same age as Will, and they had been friends even before his father had remarried. As soon as they were close enough, their fingers tangled.

“Your sister is beautiful tonight,” she said, her emerald eyes fixated on Drew.

Will nodded. “She has taken after her mother, she always is, and she always knows.”

Lou Ellen laughed, hitting him square on the chest. Crinkles formed at the corner of her eyes. “Come, concede me this dance, at least.”

“You should ask _her_ to dance with you,” he said, nodding with his head to Drew, although letting Lou Ellen take him to the dance room.

She stomped on his foot as they danced, and he tried to believe her when she said it was just an accident. They were only on the second dance, when the doors opened, and everyone held their breath.

There, in the doorway, stood four people Will had never seen before. The crowd divided, the music died.

“Who are those people?” He asked.

“Mrs. and Mr. Jackson, Alphas, married and mated, cousins to Mr. and Miss Grace, both Alphas. They are siblings. Mr. Grace is our bachelor.”

“Is that strange man behind them with them?” Will said, just then noticing the fifth figure, remaining in the shadows. “Who is he?”

“Oh, that must be Mr. di Angelo,” Lou Ellen said. “Alpha. I heard he makes £10,000 a year, and that he owns half of Derbyshire. I haven’t met him when I visited with my father.”

Mr. di Angelo turned his head to the side, looking at the quartet in the corner of the room, but his high-collar made it impossible to see whether he bore marks of a mating or not. The light put his high cheekbones and strong jaw on display.

The major moved forth, introducing himself, and generally welcoming the five foreigners. Will didn’t listen to a single word he said, too captivated in the way Mr. di Angelo’s eyebrow rose higher with every detail of the room he noticed.

“He doesn’t look too friendly,” he whispered to Piper.

She startled. Only then did Will realize how deeply in thought she had been, how her gaze had looked a little lost. She blinked, looking up at him. “Mr. Grace?”

“No, Mr. di Angelo,” he said. He raised an eyebrow, and hid a smile. “However, what do you think of Mr. Grace?”

“He’s very handsome,” she said. “He looks kind. A little clumsy.”

“You know all of that with only one look?” Will asked.

The music started again, and people moved to dance. Lou Ellen disappeared in the crowd, but Will stayed close to his sister. He couldn’t help but notice, how Mr. Grace’s eyes lingered on his sister when he passed by.

“He’ll ask you to dance,” he told her.

Piper turned red, hiding her mouth behind her hand. “Do you think so?”

Before Will could respond that he did think so, their forearms were grabbed by Mrs. Solace.

“It’s not time to play, sweeties,” she said. “Now we go on scene. Be on your best behavior.”

Will furrowed his eyebrows, but he didn’t have time to ask for an explanation, as she dragged them both to the end of the dance floor, where Mr. Grace was talking to his friends. They major had just introduced them, when Mr. Solace also appeared, looking like he’d been thrown off center by his own move.

For a time that seemed infinite, Mrs. Solace talked with the guests, telling them about their family–only the bright side, of course–and something about many of the other families there–“Lou Ellen, you might know her. She is a Beta, she is such a lovely girl, a pity she isn’t much pretty. Take my Piper, for example. She is much prettier, so beautiful. She has taken after me, but also after her late father, he was so very beautiful, and he did promise me we would have the prettiest children. I had other three with him, although they were all adopted, we were so lucky they were pretty, too. She reminds me of my first daughter, I had her with my first husband.”–and some rather embarrassing things about those other families, that Will tried to forget as soon as they reached his ears. Eventually, she saw a friend of hers on the other side of the room–whom she had just finished gossiping about–and fled the scene, leaving Piper and Will alone and embarrassed.

“I understand that you are step-siblings, am I right?” Mr. Grace asked.

Piper, rather red in the face, didn’t raise her eyes from the floor, muttering a very quiet ‘yes’.

“And are you all related, Mr. Grace?” Will asked, fighting to keep a smile on his face when Mr. di Angelo’s eyes fell on him, and _the_ eyebrow rose again.

Mr. Grace’s smile was small but warm, and it showed a little scar he had on his upper lip. “We are. Thalia is my sister, Nico and Percy my cousins.” When he saw Will’s confused smile, he blushed, and said, “I meant to say, Mr. di Angelo and Mr. Jackson.”

“I believe this is meant to be a lesson for you, _Mr. Grace_ ,” Mr. Jackson said, a lopsided grin tugging one corner of his lips upwards. He leaned closer to Mr. Grace, with a glint in his eyes that could only be described as wolfish. “Keep your distance.”

Miss Grace shook her head, as Mrs. Jackson raised her fan to hide a smile. Will couldn’t help but laugh, and Piper smiled. Will’s laugh died short when his eyes met Mr. di Angelo’s colder ones.

“Miss McLean, may I ask for a dance with you?” Mr. Grace asked, his words falling out of his mouth in a single breath, as though he were afraid of never getting the possibility of asking again.

Will’s smile widened when Piper accepted, and they left together. Mr. and Mrs. Jackson both excused themselves to dance shortly after. Miss Grace disappeared, too, and Will found himself alone, in the company of the aloof Mr. di Angelo.

“Do you not dance, Mr. di Angelo?” Will asked.

Mr. di Angelo’s gaze fell on him again, and Will almost regretted his words, however the energy buzzing underneath his skin kept him standing, curious to hear the response, whatever it may be.

“Not if I can help it, no,” Mr. di Angelo said, in a tone that made it impossible to continue the conversation. He excused himself shortly after.

Not much later, Will found himself in the patio with Lou Ellen. They had to be careful when they sneaked around like that. If anyone were to find them alone at night, they would have been believed to be in intimacy with one another. Mrs. Solace already thought so. Anytime she started talking of them as though they were about to get married, Will’s skin crawled.

They talking quietly when new voices reached them from the inside. The first one to talk was clearly Mr. Grace. Sharing only one look, they decided to eavesdrop.

“She is so pretty, but also so humble. She must know that she is beautiful, right?”

His interlocutor huffed. “I’m sure she will know if you tell her.” It was Mr. di Angelo.

“How am I supposed to go up to someone that beautiful, and just tell her, ‘Miss McLean, I believe that you are the most sublime creature I have ever seen in my life’? Tell me and I will!” Mr. Grace exclaimed, sounding agitated.

Lou Ellen elbowed Will in the ribs, and he smiled widely at her, ignoring the pain. Although he had known Mr. Grace would find Piper beautiful, he was still as pleased as if his compliments were a surprise.

Mr. Grace talked again. “Do you agree? That she is beautiful?”

“I am not attracted to women, but I guess that she is.”

“Has no one caught your eyes? No pretty boy for you to dance with?” Mr. Grace hummed, and Will imagined that Mr. di Angelo had somehow responded. _Probably raising his judging eyebrow_. “Miss McLean’s step-brother is very pretty.”

“He is.”

Lou Ellen elbowed him so hard Will almost yelped out loud. Without the possibility of doing that, he could only elbow her back. She stepped on his foot.

“But not enough to tempt me,” Mr. di Angelo continued, and for a moment everything stood still in Will. “He also smiles a bit too much.”

Mr. Grace sighed, though with a fond undertone, and asked what he should do with Mr. di Angelo. Not long later, they were both gone. Will took one look at Lou Ellen and the surprise written in her dropped jaw, and he couldn’t help a loud guffaw, even bending in two as he laughed.

“What can it even mean that I smile too much?” He wondered out loud. “He may own half of Derbyshire, but I’m now sure that it is the sad half.”

“On the bright side, you won’t have to talk to him, since he doesn’t like you either,” Lou Ellen said, as though she could read into Will’s mind, where he was vowing to himself to never like Mr. di Angelo.

“Maybe Aphrodite is right, and I’m getting too old to temp and seduce alphas. Ah,” Will sighed dramatically, as he had only seen his father and Aphrodite herself do. “ _The_ _struggle_.”

It soon became a recurring joke, between them and his siblings, too, how Will wasn’t aging as well as they had hoped, and Mr. di Angelo’s dislike for him. By the next morning, Will’s own dislike for the other seemed to be something that had always existed, almost like an old friend.

Three days after the ball, Aphrodite, Will, Piper and Mitchell met Mr. di Angelo and Mr. Grace again. They were in the tea-shop, with fuming cups on the table before them, when Mr. di Angelo and Mr. Grace entered.

Mr. Grace greeted them with a smile. Mr. di Angelo’s face remained stoic, but at least his eyebrow remained in place.

“It’s such a pleasure to see you again, Mr. Grace,” Mrs. Solace said, not even glancing in Mr. di Angelo’s direction. He didn’t seem to be paying attention to her, as his eyes were on the world outside the window.

“For me, too, Mrs. Solace,” he responded. Subtly–not enough to not be seen by Will–he nudged Mr. di Angelo’s foot with his own.

Mr. di Angelo smiled, too. It was forced, similar to a grimace. Will didn’t bother hiding his amusement.

“I see you have already found this town’s greatest gift, Mr. Grace,” Will said. “Our tea-shop.”

“Greatest gift after our beautiful Piper, of course,” Mitchell said, batting his eyelashes up at Mr. Grace. “But I’ve seen you found her dancing of your liking, Mr. Grace.”

At that, Mr. di Angelo’s eyebrows shot up, this time both of them. Mr. Grace blushed, as Piper tried to hit Mitchell under the table, and the hit landed on Will. He bit his tongue to avoid gasping.

Aphrodite laughed, looking far too proud of her son’s smooth words. “Darling, don’t embarrass Mr. Grace and your sister.”

“I have to admit to my finding Mr. McLean’s words completely true,” Mr. Grace said.

Will hid his smile behind a sip of tea, only to burn his tongue. Piper looked at him as though he deserved it.

“Forgive me if I say, Mr. Grace, that I am not surprised at all,” Aphrodite continued, twirling a strand of hair between her fingers. “My dear Piper is no stranger to Alphas’ and Betas’ attention.” She sighed, as Will blushed for Piper, trying to catch Aphrodite’s eye to make her stop. “She is just very beautiful. One should do their best to keep her interested.”

Mr. Grace’s calm reached an end, he blinked, clearly unsure as to what to answer, as Mr. di Angelo’s eyebrows rose so high, they might as well have fallen off.

“Are you finding Netherfield of your liking, sirs?” Will asked.

Mr. Grace sent Will a grateful smile, clasping his hands behind his back. “You see, Mr. Solace, life in the city can become too much to bear, at times. Being here, in the country, is far calmer. I’m lucky enough to have friends willing to come with me.” He squeezed Mr. di Angelo’s shoulder, whose eyes warmed, a little smile curling his lips upwards.

Still, Mr. di Angelo cleared his throat. “Your sister is outside,” he said. When his eyes landed on Will, they were completely blank, as though he were looking at nothing more than an ant.

Mr. di Angelo turned, his back stiff, and in a few quick strides, he left the shop.

“He seemed in a rush,” Will said, unable to contain himself. Someone’s foot hit his shin.

Fondness sparked in Mr. Grace’s eyes. “Forgive him, sometimes he lacks in manners. If you’ll excuse me, I’m afraid I have to leave as well.”

At least he smiled and tipped his head before he did.

It was Kayla and Austin who introduced Will to Mr. Bryce Lawrence. The first time they actually met was when the Regiment passed through the city, but Will didn’t notice him, too engrossed in a talk with Piper, regarding a book he couldn’t find at the library. Later, they found Kayla and Drew talking to a man, and they learnt that it was Bryce Lawrence. He wore a red uniform, and he kept his hair gathered on the back of his head.

Mr. Lawrence was beautiful, in a way that didn’t have Will’s breath caught in his throat, but made his heart stutter when he noticed. He smiled, and Mr. Lawrence smiled back.

“Let me walk you home,” Mr. Lawrence said, his eyes in Will’s.

“We have been here much longer than you,” Will teased him. “I find it difficult to believe that we will get lost on the way.”

“Of course not,” Mr. Lawrence said. “But I would love to talk to you a bit more. Forgive me if I am too greedy.”

For no reason at all, Will blushed a deep red. He turned, Kayla hanging off his arm, as they walked back home. Mr. Lawrence walked beside them, stopping at the side of the road to look at the flowers.

“Do you have other siblings or am I meeting the whole family?” He asked at some point.

“We have other four, Mr. Lawrence,” Will said. “The youngest hasn’t presented yet.”

“And the others, if I may ask?”

Kayla giggled, kicking a stone on the ground. It rolled forth, hitting Drew’s feet and making her stumble on her steps. She turned to glare at Kayla, who didn’t pay her any mind. “We are all Omegas,” she instead told Mr. Lawrence.

“It must be quite a hassle for the matters of succession,” Mr. Lawrence said.

“It is,” Piper confirmed. “But Jonathan, the youngest of us, hasn’t presented yet.”

“We all know he’s an Omega,” Drew said.

Piper elbowed her. Even if their succession problems weren’t a secret for anyone who knew them, Mr. Lawrence didn’t need to know just yet. While Omegas, both males and females, couldn’t be heirs, Alphas and Betas could own anything.

“I’m sure you will find a solution,” Mr. Lawrence said, looking in Will’s eyes, for so long it was Will who looked away, and still felt the other’s gaze on him.

“I imagine you have traveled a lot, by being part of the army, Mr. Lawrence,” Piper said.

Mr. Lawrence told them that he had, but he didn’t explain further. Drew used the occasion to talk about the latest gossip she had heard. Ignoring her voice as one would with a background noise, Will couldn’t help but think of his oldest siblings. If they were still alive, the house would be theirs. Then his mind wandered to his mother, and he quickly shut his thoughts off.

Mrs. Solace was in tears when they arrived at home. Will sat close to her, more than he normally would. Piper sat on her other side, putting her face in her mother’s neck to scent her.

It didn’t happen often that Aphrodite broke down. Will had only seen it happen once before, and only as he passed in front of an open door. It was the anniversary of her oldest daughter’s passing, which had happened a few months after her fiancé had died.

“Mom?” Piper asked. “What is it?”

“Your father’s cousin is coming to visit us,” she said, her voice breaking on the last word. “The next week.”

Will froze, his heart ceased, and he couldn’t help but think of his older siblings again. Aphrodite fanned her face, but tears continued falling.

Mr. Solace’s cousin. Finally, they would put a face to such title, putting an end to the sinister curiosity that had haunted them for so long. Mr. Solace’s _Alpha_ cousin, that would inherit his whole fortune when he died, throwing them on the streets. Neither Mr. nor Mrs. Solace had ever stated it out loud, but they knew that a big hope of their marriage had been to finally give Mr. Solace an Alpha heir. Will hoped the knowledge would never reach Jonathan, in fear it would crush him. Drew’s words, as harsh as they had been, were right: they all knew he was another Omega.

“He may decide to let us live in here, after all,” Piper said.

It threw her mother under the waters again. A new wave of tears ran down her rosy cheeks. “He will throw us out,” she hiccupped, almost wailing. “All my children, my dear children, will live on the streets.”

“Father isn’t dead yet,” Will reminded her. “There’s still time to find a solution.”

“Your father never follows the medic’s orders, he doesn’t have much longer, I feel it in my nerves,” she replied. She covered her face with her hands, and Will and Piper exchanged a look, as her scent turned sour. “My only hope is that Piper will get married. At least then one will survive.”

“If I got married, then I wouldn’t let you all live on the streets,” Piper said. “And I’m sure that my husband would have enough heart to not let you, either.”

Aphrodite hiccupped harder, and at that point Will wasn’t even sure what she was crying for. She muttered something about her nerves, curling under the blankets.

“Your husband should be a saint for that,” she said. “A saint! Seven children, only one married. God, my poor, poor nerves!”

Will patted her back. It would be a very long evening.

“What do you think he’ll be like?” Piper quietly asked Will, when all the other siblings were already asleep, buried in the furs on the beds.

“I have no idea,” Will said. “But he’s an Alpha. They are all the same, in my opinion. They only think about their urges, and watch us Omegas like we are nothing more than an object that needs to keep itself pretty.”

“You won’t talk like this anymore when you’ll fancy someone,” she said. She sighed, furrowing her eyebrows. “Have you ever fancied someone, Will?”

“Never,” he said. “I have felt attraction, and sometimes wished to get to know someone better.” And image of Mr. Lawrence flashed behind his eyes, and he blushed again. “But I only want to marry someone for true love, so that I never regret it, and only once I know them enough.”

“I suppose you haven’t had the best examples as for love,” Piper said.

Will grimaced. “I suppose I haven’t. I’m not precluding myself from it, I just want to keep my distance from one that would be terrible for all the people involved. And if my expectations are too high, then I’ll never marry, and I will still find my happiness.”

Piper smiled. “That’s a bit cynical, maybe. But I understand.”

“Let’s not talk of dark matters. They have tired me already.” Will repositioned himself on the pillow, hugging it closer, and Piper’s smile turned shier, as she already knew what he was getting at. They had known each other for a long time, after all. “Talk to me about your Mr. Grace.”

“He is not _my_ Mr. Grace. I have received a letter, today,” Piper said. “I didn’t say it, because my mother already looked desperate, and I didn’t want to tire her nerves more, so I’ll tell her tomorrow during breakfast. Miss Grace and Mrs. Jackson have invited me for dinner tomorrow. I’m so glad I have received this invite. Lou Ellen told me that Mrs. Jackson is a strategist, one of the most erudite women of the country. And Miss Grace is part of an elite group of women in London, who dedicate themselves to advocate for Omegas’ rights.”

“Oh. She is?”

“Yes, she is. Mr. di Angelo’s older sister was a part of it as well, or so I’ve been told,” she said.

“And where is she now?”

Piper hid a yawn behind her hand. “I don’t know. Lou Ellen didn’t know either, or at least she didn’t tell me.”

Will hesitated for a moment. “Don’t you find him a bit weird?”

“He is aloof, maybe he just doesn’t like balls all that much.”

“Nor smiles.” Will furrowed his eyebrows, frowning in the direction of the ceiling, as though he were asking God themselves. “If he didn’t like balls, he wouldn’t have come at all. He just looks down at us, as every other Alpha does. As I have already said.”

“What about Mr. Grace? He has never done such a thing, since he came here, and he is kind.”

Will rolled his eyes. “You never have an ill word for anyone, do you?” With a sigh, he rolled on his side, snuggling closer to Piper. “Mr. di Angelo is as rude as every other Alpha, and Mr. Grace is an exception, needed to confirm the general rule.”

“Mr. and Mrs. Jackson and Miss Grace–”

“Mr. Jackson brooded for the first half of the night, Mrs. Jackson grimaced whenever someone opened their mouth to talk to her, and Miss Grace looked just about ready to kill everyone.”

Piper sighed. “With all the love I have for you, I really wish you would see things a bit differently.”

As predicted, Mrs. Solace was absolutely delighted when Piper shared the news during breakfast. Mrs. Solace sent her to Netherfield with the horse, unwilling to let her use the cart, stating she would need it in the afternoon. When the clouds finally broke, not long after Piper left, Will finally understood.

“Let’s hope Piper’s death is worth winning Mr. Grace’s affection,” Austin commented, as a thunder broke between the grey, dark clouds.

Mrs. Solace waved her hand in dismissal. “She will not die.”

Drew rolled her eyes, sitting by Kayla as she started a new song on the old piano. Austin let his hand fall on Will’s shoulder. Lacy padded in the room, still in her nightclothes, and Mitchell sent her a confused and slightly disgusted glance.

“Who will die?” Lacy asked, her big eyes wide open.

“Piper,” Will replied, turning to rest his back against the window. He could feel every drop of water that hit the glass. “Unluckily, she couldn’t use the carriage, because _someone_ had a plot.”

Mrs. Solace clicked her tongue, fanning her face despite the cold temperature. “I didn’t raise you to be so disrespectful, boy.”

Mitchell laughed. “Mother always has a plot, especially if an Alpha is nearby.”

Lacy groaned. “Mother, you should think about me next, when Piper is finally married to Mr. Grace.”

“I am already thinking about your brother,” Mrs. Solace replied. “He is next in age, and you will not be married before he is.”

Will grimaced, feeling his nose scrunching up. “Her wait will be long and terrible, then.”

Jonathan laughed, and his sweet scent spiked, despite being almost covered by kids’ default one, which they had until they presented. A smile began spreading on Will’s face.

“Who are you even thinking of having him marry?” Kayla asked, a lazy smile dancing on her face. She got up from the piano, stretching her back, and fell on the sofa in a mass of limbs.

Austin took her place at the piano, starting a new melody. He and Kayla were the best of the family when it came to playing, as Mr. Solace had taught them himself. Will never had the patience to learn.

“Miss Lou Ellen Blackstone, of course,” Aphrodite said, opening a book and keeping it in her lap, but with no intention of ending the conversation anytime soon. “She is a dedicated, young, Beta. She makes enough to maintain a family, when the time comes. I have even talked to her mother, she would be happy to see her with Will, too. They have been friends for so long, we all know what the next step is.”

Will could hear Drew’s heart stopping, even though she didn’t move, and the calm on her face didn’t falter. She showed no emotion, and it was far worse than devastation.

“Lou Ellen and I are only friends, and we will never marry,” Will said. He looked in Aphrodite’s eyes as he talked, although his words weren’t for her. “She is interested in someone.”

Aphrodite rolled her eyes. “That someone won’t hold a candle to you.”

Before Will could defend Drew, the door opened to reveal a servant, with a letter to Mrs. Solace. She took it with glee, her voice getting even higher in pitch when she discovered it came from Netherfield.

“What does it say?” Will asked, after Mrs. Solace had read the whole thing, and her smile had grown tenfold. “Is she alright?”

“She is more than alright,” Mrs. Solace said, folding the letter and leaving it on the table. Mitchell moved faster than he ever had, and snatched it. “She will spend the next few days in Netherfield.”

“Why?” Kayla asked. She gasped, and covered her mouth with her hands. “Tell me my horse hasn’t died.”

“Your horse hasn’t died,” Mitchell said, rolling his eyes, although he sounded very delighted. He waved the letter. “We can’t say the same about Piper.”

Will took the letter from Mitchell’s hands. Mitchell’s glare would have sent grown man running, but Will had gotten used to it. As annoying as he could sometimes be, Mitchell would never hurt him.

With the words he had just read spinning in his head, Will looked up at Mrs. Solace. “You caused your daughter to catch a cold.”

Mrs. Solace waved her hand in dismissal. “I caused her to get a husband.”

“Oh, but if she were to die, it would be so worth it, wouldn’t it?” Austin said, his voice dripping in sarcasm.

“Do not use that tone with me, boy,” Mrs. Solace said, whacking him on the head. “She will be treated there. It says right there,” and she pointed at the letter, a smug and self-satisfied smile still on her face, “that a doctor was coming to Netherfield.”

“We don’t even know what doctor,” Will said. He shook his head. “Tomorrow I’m going there.”

Will met with Mr. Lawrence on the way. He was still in his red uniform, and he looked exactly like he did the last time Will had seen him, except for the faint smell of rum clinging to his natural scent.

“Mr. Solace,” Mr. Lawrence said, bowing his head.

Will bowed his back, a small smile blossoming on his face.

“May I walk you to wherever you are going, Mr. Solace?” Mr. Lawrence asked.

“I’m visiting Netherfield,” Will said. “My sister has fallen sick as she was visiting Mrs. Jackson and Miss Grace.”

“And they are throwing her out?” Mr. Lawrence asked. “It wouldn’t be the first time Mr. di Angelo does that with someone who is sick.”

“The contrary, actually. They have offered her to stay until she is well enough to travel,” Will said. “Although I’m sure it wasn’t Mr. di Angelo’s suggestion. You don’t sound fond of him, Mr. Lawrence. Do you already know him?”

Mr. Lawrence sighed. “Oh, I do. We grew up together, my father worked for his. He died when I was only seven, so Mr. di Angelo’s father… well, I saw him as my own father, and I was a son to him. Mr. di Angelo was as dear as a brother to me, but I wasn’t to him. His father died, less than two years ago, when Mr. di Angelo was very young, only nineteen, and he inherited his father’s fortune, but a part of it was meant to be for me.” Mr. Lawrence shook his head, rubbing his cheek.

“What happened then?” Will asked, when it was clear that Mr. Lawrence had no intention of continuing.

“Mr. di Angelo decided that I wasn’t worth their family money.” He took another deep breath, as though he were trying not to cry. “He cut me off the testament, ignoring his father’s wishes. If he didn’t, I would be a clergyman now.” He laughed, looking down at his uniform. “Let’s just say it didn’t go as planned.”

Will couldn’t find anything to say. Mr. Lawrence excused himself, and by the time Will had reached Netherfield, his dislike for Mr. di Angelo had morphed into something far more dangerous and deep-rooted into his chest.

Piper knew Will would have come, or so Mrs. Jackson said. Will didn’t see any of the other Alphas for a while, as he was brought into Piper’s room. She told him about the doctor, but mostly about Mr. Grace, and the things Miss Grace and Mrs. Jackson had said about him.

“And he’s so kind,” she kept on repeating.

 _He must be saying the same of you_ , Will thought, but he didn’t dare saying it out loud.

Piper fell asleep mid-sentence, and Will tucked the blankets around her, before leaving her to rest some more. He followed Mrs. Jackson’s previously given instructions to find the parlor, were he found everyone else. Even Mr. di Angelo, whom Will did his best to ignore.

Will apologized for the inconvenience, but Mr. Grace said it was a pleasure – “I mean, I’m not pleased that your sister is unwell, but I’m, I’m honored to have her here” – and he insisted Will stayed, too.

For a while, things were pacific. No one talked much, as Mr. Grace and Mrs. Jackson were having a chess match. Mr. di Angelo was writing, looking absolutely detached from the world, and Mr. Jackson… well, Will wasn’t sure what Mr. Jackson was doing, and Miss Grace was sitting beside Will, with a book open in her hands. Will took another book, and read half-heartedly.

“Tell me, Mr. Solace,” Miss Grace said, her eyes never leaving her book. “Do you often read?”

“I do,” Will responded, hiding his surprise at being spoken to by Miss Grace. She hadn’t been very friendly either, although far less than Mr. di Angelo.

“Isn’t it curious, how all Omegas share the same hobbies?” Miss Grace asked, side-glancing her brother.

Mr. Grace and Mrs. Jackson raised their eyes from the chessboard, while Mr. di Angelo didn’t even blink.

“I find it far more curious how we are required to have these hobbies to be considered instructed,” Will replied.

Mr. di Angelo turned to look at him. “So you agree that it is a choice.”

“Is it?” Will tilted his head to the side. “A choice between never finding a spouse, because we are deemed unworthy, and suffering through endless hours of playing piano and studying. How _fair_.”

“So you see studying as a suffering, Mr. Solace?” Mr. di Angelo asked.

“No, I do not. I see playing piano as a suffering, not only to myself, but to anyone forced to listen to me. Unlike my younger siblings, I have never managed to get the hang of it.”

“That’s clever, Mr. Solace. When you put yourself down, you make others want to know whether you are as terrible as you say, or you are just too humble. In any case, you increase other’s interest in you.”

“You are very suspicious, Mr. di Angelo. When you do that, you make others wonder what has happened to you to make you such, and whether there’s more to you than that. In any case, you increase other’s interest in you.”

Mr. di Angelo blinked, slowly, as though he wasn’t sure he had heard Will’s words right. Will, on his part, recalled every lesson Aphrodite had ever given him on how to be a perfect Omega, and kept a cordial and innocent smile on his face.

“That was very beautiful to watch,” Mr. Jackson said, his chin resting on his fist as he watched the spectacle unfold. “I have never seen Nico speaking so many words to someone he barely knows.”

“Dear,” Mrs. Jackson said, moving a piece on the board. “Let the boys be.”

Mr. Jackson’s smile widened, but he didn’t look away from Will. “You see,” he said. “I have known Nico for so long, he is almost like a son to me.”

“You are barely three years older than me, Jackson,” Mr. di Angelo said, resuming his writing.

“I have three years of experience on you, yes,” Mr. Jackson replied, continuing as though he had never been interrupted. “Truth be told, I have a younger sister by blood. You have many younger siblings yourself, don’t you, Mr. Solace?”

“You have met them all, Percy,” Mr. di Angelo said, but his words sounded gritted through his teeth.

For some reason, Miss Grace scoffed. “I can’t recall half their names.”

“You haven’t met them all, Mr. Jackson,” Will said, ignoring Miss Grace’s intervention. “My youngest brother is too young to be a part of society.”

Mr. Grace smiled. “Jonathan, yes? Your sister has talked about him.”

“I’m not surprised,” Will said. “She has always had a soft spot for him. Everyone in our house does.”

“It must be hard, living under the same roof as so many people,” Miss Grace said. “We’ve been here together for a week, and I already want to buy a house for myself.”

“My, thank you, cousin,” Mr. Jackson said.

“Not really,” Will said. “At the begging it wasn’t easy, but it was more about our new relationship with our step-parent, than that with our step-siblings. After all, I had known them my whole life.”

Mrs. Jackson smiled. “It must have been hard for your parents, too.”

“They had been friends before their marriage, too,” Will said simply. He didn’t add that their marriage had dimmed such friendship to barely kept civility with one another.

Will had thought that a group of Alphas wouldn’t have much to talk about, if not politics and their riches (and also which Omegas they found more appealing) but that particular group seemed to do. During dinner, Mrs. Jackson asked about Mr. di Angelo’s sister.

“She is an Omega,” Mr. Grace quietly told Will. “She is a lovely girl.”

“Why has she not come with you?”

Mr. Grace leaned closer. “Mr. di Angelo had planned for her to come, too, but she has chosen to stay at Pemberley House. And I have to admit, it is a good thing.”

“It is?”

An apologetic smile tugged Mr. Grace’s lips upward. “Forgive me, Mr. Solace, but I have said too much.”

After Mr. Grace leaned back in his seat, Will didn’t have the possibility to talk to him anymore.

On the third day of Will’s stay at Netherfield, Piper was finally well-enough to travel, and Mr. Grace offered them to travel with his carriage. Piper accepted with a shy smile, and Mr. Grace blushed beyond reason.

They walked outside, and found Mr. and Mrs. Jackson with Miss Grace, already waiting to bid them goodbye.

“Mr. Grace and Mr. di Angelo will come with you,” Mrs. Jackson said, squeezing Will’s hands. “It was a pleasure having you here. Both of you. I wish it hadn’t been under such circumstances, but I’ll look forward to having you again.”

Mr. Jackson smiled, putting his arm around Mrs. Jackson’s waist. “You can’t invite people to others’ houses. Although I do agree, and I’d like for you to visit us soon.”

“It would be our pleasure,” Piper said.

Mr. Grace opened the door for them, and he and Piper stayed there, for a few seconds, just looking into one another’s eyes.

Mr. di Angelo, on the other side of the door, offered Will his hand, as soon as he walked close to the steps. Will, only because he had been raised with manners and wasn’t rude, accepted the hand. However, when he took it, he saw how Mr. di Angelo’s body reacted, as though he were fighting the urge to flee. Had it been a sort of challenge? He had to have thought Will wouldn’t have accepted.

His hand was cold, a bit calloused, although Will hadn’t seen him spending time outside, or engaging in practical activity. In reality, during their stay, Mr. di Angelo always seemed to be inside, almost following Will around, as though he were afraid he was a thief.

“Thank you, Mr. di Angelo,” Will said, finally sitting down.

Mr. di Angelo’s expression fell back to his usual bored one. He didn’t even bow his head at Will, nor in any way replied, only took a couple of steps back, looked down at his hand, flexed his fingers, and quickly walked away.

The doors of Netherfield closed behind him, and the carriage started. Will hadn’t even noticed Piper entering.

“He will be here tomorrow morning,” Drew said, all siblings on only one bed, when the night had long since fallen. “Father didn’t want us to know.”

Mitchell stretched his legs, and they ended up over Will’s and Kayla’s lap. “How do you know, then?”

“We heard him talking to the steward,” Kayla replied. She threw an apologetic glance at Piper. “We didn’t want to eavesdrop, of course.”

“Of course,” Drew echoed, but her smile wasn’t apologetic at all, and she rolled her eyes.

Kayla looked at Piper as though she were the best thing to have ever happened to the whole world, Drew tried to be as different from her as she could. When she was younger, Piper couldn’t find much to like in Drew, either. The loss of their oldest sister had hit them in different ways.

“Don’t you find it strange to think?” Austin asked. “We have grown up in this house. Jonathan is still doing so. How can he just come and get it?”

“It’s not strange, it has happened to other before. Mr. Markowitz’s Alpha father was the cousin of the previous owner, who didn’t have any Alpha nor Beta heir,” Will said, a knot slowly tightening his throat. He gulped, but it didn’t loosen at all. “And no one bat an eye.”

Piper’s head fell on his shoulder. Jonathan was asleep in her lap, his mouth hanging open. “We don’t know him yet, he might surprise us.”

“Right, he might want to keep a harem of Omegas in his house,” Will said.

Lacy widened her eyes, her jaw falling slack. Piper took her hand between her own, shaking her head.

“Will is only joking,” she said. “We can’t know anything without knowing him first.”

Will chuckled. “Although he is a man called Octavian Caesar. We can’t expect him to be humble or pleasant, can we?”

Will was proved right the very next morning. Mr. Caesar spent breakfast talking of novels, and how they were deceiving.

“Your considerations are so interesting, Mr. Caesar,” Will said, his innocent Omega smile on display. “I wonder whether your salmons are half as much.”

If looks could kill, Will would have already been dead. However, since they could not, he could keep on enjoying his breakfast, even with Mrs. Solace glaring in his direction. Mr. Solace brought the calix to his lips, hiding a smile. Mitchell openly laughed.

“I have been told that they are, Mr. Solace,” Mr. Caesar said. His voice was monotone, no emotion ever filtered through his words. “In the evening, I often enjoy reading the classics, although I much prefer the Holy Bible.”

“Completely understandable,” Will said, nodding his head.

Mitchell snickered, as Drew turned her red face away from the others’ sight. Her shoulders shook, but she didn’t emit any sound. Kayla was equally red in the face, but she managed to stay more composed.

“Thank you, William,” Mr. Caesar said. “May I call you that?”

Will smiled. “I would prefer to keep formalities, Mr. Caesar.”

Aphrodite’s fork fell in her plate, with a loud clang that resonated in the silent room. For a long moment, as he chewed with red cheeks, Will believed that he could even hear the dust settling.

“As you wish, Mr. Solace,” Mr. Caesar said, although he looked a bit constipated. He turned to Mrs. Solace. “May I ask which one of my cousins I have to thank for this well-cooked meal?”

Her smile turned sharper around the edges. “We are comfortably able to have a cook.”

“Does that mean none of them can cook, Mrs. Solace?” Mr. Caesar continued.

Maybe looks couldn’t kill, but Will wasn’t as sure about Mrs. Solace’s smile.

“No well-instructed Omega would spend their time in such a way,” she said.

Mr. Caesar dropped the matter.

Whenever the siblings went, whatever they wanted to do, Mr. Caesar was watching like a hawk from behind their shoulders, giving unwanted comments to unwelcoming ears. He was a dark shadow of despair.

One of Will’s hobbies, if it could be called that, was gardening. He liked growing flowers and plants to put in his teas and infusions. Even the doctor had asked for the recipes of some of his pharmaceutic creams.

He usually cultivated this hobby twice a day, in the morning and late in the evening, when his younger siblings were studying with Mrs. Solace, helped by Piper. Sometimes he had to help them, too, but most of the time he was left alone. He wasn’t patient enough to deal with them.

With Mr. Caesar in the house, he found himself with no free time to care of his plants in peace. The first day, Mr. Caesar followed Will in the garden, his breath constantly on the back of Will’s neck, as he gave many unwanted (and also untrue) tips.

The second day, Will woke up with the sun, and sneaked outside. He found his usual peace, and when he was done, he was much calmer and satisfied.

When he turned, his eyes met his father’s, who was watching him from his studio, and gestured for his son to reach him.

Will walked through the house without making a noise, and hoped he wouldn’t meet Mrs. Solace. She would have fainted, if she had seen the dirt on his fingers. And Mitchell would have either been disgusted or thrown a tantrum, but it was too early for him to be up.

“Were you calling me?” Will asked, pocking his head in the studio.

Mr. Solace nodded, but didn’t other move as Will sat in front of him. He kept his fingers intertwined on his lap, and simply watched Will. Sometimes he did. He looked at Will, and he thought of his siblings and his mother, and Will let him.

“I saw you in the garden,” Mr. Solace said. “I always wonder who you got it from. Neither me nor your mother ever liked caring for plants. Your mother always forgot to water them, and thought they would still be alive when she returned to them much later.”

In one of his books, Will had read that plants were much like feelings, that needed to be nurtured and treated every day. Maybe his mother had thought that Will would be waiting for her, young and in blossom, the same way she had thought her plants would.

Mr. Solace had fallen for his first wife quickly, and asked her to marry him, even if it wouldn’t bring him any benefit. Not only did they marry, but they also mated, a bond which would never break. However, Mr. Solace had wanted children, and since his wife didn’t want to carry them, as she was too frail of health, they had adopted. They had adopted two at the same time, and they had both been Alphas. A little later, they also decided to adopt another, thinking another child might bring them only pure happiness.

His mother had faded right before their eyes.

“What do you think of Mr. Caesar?” Will asked, willing the lump in his throat away.

“He seems very self-absolved, doesn’t he?” Mr. Solace chuckled, the crinkles at the corner of his eyes deepened. He leaned forward, putting his elbows on the table. “When I die, whether you are still in this house or not, destroy it as much as you can. The thought of him keeping it makes my skin crawl.”

The Solaces met with Mr. Grace and his companions after the Mass. It had been a terrible experience for Will, who was forced to sit next to Mr. Caesar, and suffer through his comments, all his ‘A beautiful salmon, but I would have changed _this_ into _that_ , and _that_ into _this_ ,’ with escape nor hope to do so.

When he was finally outside, Mrs. Solace brought them over by Mr. Grace, who was talking with Mr. Jackson.

“Mrs. Jackson isn’t with you, Mr. Jackson?” Will later asked Mr. Jackson, as Mr. Grace and Piper did their strange dancing around each other, as they always did when they were together, and Mrs. Solace was embarrassing them both in ways Will didn’t want to listen to.

“Please, don’t try to seduce me just because my wife isn’t here,” Mr. Jackson replied in a teasing tone.

Will only shook his head. In the days spent at Netherfield, he had come to know that Mr. Jackson was often sarcastic, teasing people whenever the possibility presented itself, but with no ill-intent.

“I find your wife far more appealing,” Will said quietly, so that his siblings wouldn’t hear and report back to Mrs. Solace. “Her I would certainly try to seduce. You, on the other hand, Mr. Jackson, not so much.”

Mr. di Angelo’s stoic face contorted into a strange expression, and he quickly turned away. At least he was learning to hide his disgust, or so Will thought to himself, as Mr. di Angelo’s shoulders shook as though he were shivering.

“My wife and I are waiting your next visit,” Mr. Jackson said. He threw a glance at Mr. Grace and Piper, not far from them, still talking in hushed tones. “So is my cousin.”

Will smiled. “Maybe you should invite us,” he suggested.

“You can’t invite people over at someone else’s house, Jackson,” Mr. di Angelo said, his face back to being stoic.

Mr. Jackson laughed. “Excuse him,” he told Will, whose blood was flowing in irritation. “Today he isn’t feeling well.”

“That’s not true,” Mr. di Angelo immediately said. “Today I feel rather well, far more than I usually do, as a matter of fact.”

Mr. Jackson smiled in a way that said he knew far more than anyone else. “And I wonder why that is.”

Will lost Mr. di Angelo’s response, as he noticed Mitchell and Kayla going back to where Mr. Grace and Piper were standing, with Mrs. Solace watching it all unfold before her eyes. Will excused himself from the conversation, to reach them, and possibly put Piper out of the misery she seemed in.

“–it unfair?” Drew was saying, smoothening her gown, a little pout curling her lips. “Piper has seen Netherfield, and this I can understand. But William, too?”

“Of course you are always welcome in Netherfield,” Mr. Grace said.

It seemed the right thing to say, as Drew’s mood lifted visibly. “Then it is decided! We _must_ visit!”

Mrs. Solace giggled, hiding her mouth behind her hand. Piper looked ready to be sent to Heaven.

“Please Drew, don’t invite yourself to other people’s houses,” Will said. He took her hand, and peeled her away from Mr. Grace’s side.

“It’s no problem at all,” Mr. Grace said. “And it would also be a pleasure to have all of you over. Mr. Solace, too.”

“Oh, he is right there, if you have anything to ask him,” Mrs. Solace said. “Wouldn’t it be nice, if you were comfortable enough when you talk to him, that asking questions one would otherwise be nervous about, such as matters of love, didn’t make _you_ nervous at all, Mr. Grace?”

Piper’s cheeks seemed to be on fire. “Mother, please,” she muttered.

Mr. Grace wasn’t much better, his eyes fixed on Mr. Solace’s back. “Is it little Jonathan with him?”

“Yes, our youngest child,” Aphrodite said. “He will be so pretty when he grows up, I already know. He’ll have as many Alphas at his beck and call as my Piper does.”

Piper blushed a deeper red. “That is completely untrue.”

A frown appeared on Mr. Grace’s face, but it smoothed away on its own. “I will formally ask your husband to come to dinner,” he told Mrs. Solace. “If you’ll excuse me.”

Dinner was a tremendous affair.

Will could stand his family’s antics. At balls, they were generally scattered around, and he didn’t have to suffer through seeing them humiliate themselves all at once. When they went to dinner with people of their neighborhood, their personalities were already known. No one was surprised by Mr. Solace’s sarcasm, Mrs. Solace’s long ill-talks about her friends, nor by his siblings’ lacking manners.

What he couldn’t stand, was Mr. Caesar’s additional antics. Since he was their guest, it wouldn’t have been polite to leave him home alone when they were all invited to another’s house, so they had been forced to bring him along.

Unfortunately, he had also recognized Mr. di Angelo as his patron Lady Demeter’s grandson. Will found himself sitting between Mr. Caesar and Jonathan, Mr. di Angelo in front of Mr. Caesar, and Jonathan next to him. Will hated to admit it, but he had ended up in the sad part of the table.

Mr. di Angelo seemed to share his opinion, as he looked into his plate as though afraid it would disappear if he didn’t, and Mr. Caesar kept on talking. Mainly about himself. Jonathan was the first of them to grow tired of him, as he turned to look at Mr. di Angelo next to him, and cleared his throat, also interrupting Mr. Caesar, who sputtered with indignation.

“Where are you from?” Jonathan simply asked him.

Mr. di Angelo’s eyebrow rose. “Derbyshire.”

“You name doesn’t come from there. My mother told me.” Jonathan took a sip of water, wrinkling his nose as he drank.

“Jonathan, be polite,” Will reprimanded him. He (Piper, too, but secretly) was hoping to instruct him well enough in manners.

“Mr. di Angelo,” Jonathan said, turning back to said Mr. di Angelo. “Your name does not come from here. Am I right?” He looked back at Will, as though asking for approval, and Will nodded. Jonathan’s shoulders visibly relaxed.

“You are right, Mr. Solace,” Mr. di Angelo said. A glint Will had never seen before shone in those dark eyes. Jonathan giggled. “My name comes from Italy, as my mother did. She lived in Venice.”

Jonathan hang off every word Mr. di Angelo pronounced, even when he was only replying to Mr. Caesar’s questions about the well-being of his family. Mr. Caesar actually seemed to know more about the topic than Mr. di Angelo did, as he had been away from them for less time. Mr. di Angelo managed to look annoyed at Mr. Caesar’s questions, even though his face was carefully blank. Usually only boredom slipped through the cracks of his mask. It irked Will the wrong way.

After dinner they moved to the parlor, and Will found himself sitting beside Mr. and Miss Grace, Mr. and Mrs. Solace with Mr. di Angelo on the sofa in front of them. Piper was at the piano, playing it with the ease Will lacked, but also not with Austin and Kayla’s skills. Mrs. and Mr. Jackson were offering the other siblings a tour of the house. Will wasn’t sure where Mr. Caesar had gone, but he surely didn’t want to know.

“You see,” Mrs. Solace quietly told Mr. Grace. “Some years ago, when my dear Piper was only fifteen, an Alpha took an interest in her.”

Will met Mr. Solace’s eyes, begging him to stop his wife before it was too late, but Mr. Solace was already wearing a resigned expression.

“He wrote some very good sonnets dedicated to her and her beauty,” she continued, with the tone one would use to talk about the greatest of news. “I still have them somewhere.”

“As one could have imagined,” Will smoothly cut her off. “Those sonnets killed the romance.”

“Shouldn’t sonnets and poetry feed romance?” Mr. di Angelo asked, with the tone of someone who already had their answer, and no intention of listening to anyone else’s.

“If it is already strong,” Will replied. “Otherwise, the spark dies, leaving nothing behind.”

“Wouldn’t that make love an ephemeral spark?”

“Love is a flame, romance a spark. The flame comes from the spark, only if one keeps the second alive, otherwise it dies.”

Mr. di Angelo seemed ready to answer, but Mr. Grace’s low chuckles interrupted the two of them. Will realized that the whole room had fallen into silence, watching the two of them as though enjoying a play at the theatre.

“Forgive me,” Mr. Grace said. “But you two always amuse me.” He looked back at Mrs. Solace, with which he seemed to find himself more comfortable with than Mr. Solace. “I’m afraid your son and my friend don’t get along much.”

“That’s not surprising,” Mrs. Solace said, pettiness written all over her face, as she hadn’t yet forgiven Mr. di Angelo’s words about Will at the assembly rooms. “They are very different, after all.”

“Why do you dislike Mr. di Angelo so much?” Piper asked him when they were laying side by side in bed.

“He’s rude and prideful.”

“That doesn’t make him a bad man.”

“And what about the things he has done to Mr. Lawrence?” Will asked. “Doesn’t that raise any concern to you?”

“You have only heard Mr. Lawrence’s side of the story. And even before that, you didn’t like Mr. di Angelo.”

“He’s far kinder than Mr. di Angelo, that’s for sure. And I don’t think hearing the other side of the story would make me any less disgusted. You are naïve, sometimes.”

“And you judgmental. Mr. Grace is kind, and he is a dear friend to Mr. di Angelo, does that mean nothing in your eyes?”

“They are cousins, of course they need to be friends. That’s the explanation that I gave myself, or at least the preferable one, the other being that Mr. Grace is actually just another Mr. di Angelo disguised as a sheep.”

Will could see Piper rolling her eyes even if the darkness.

“A wolf disguised as a sheep, if anything. I don’t think Mr. di Angelo would ever willingly dress himself as a sheep. And we are cousins to Mr. Caesar, but I don’t see you trying to be his friend.” There was a long pause, and Will thought that Piper had fallen asleep, when her voice reached him again. “One day you’ll see that there’s always more than meets the eye, and maybe you’ll regret disliking Mr. di Angelo so much. Mr. Grace told me he is a good friend to him.”

“Poor Mr. Grace,” was Will’s last comment, before Piper bid him goodnight with a loud sigh. “He must have had terrible experiences in friendships.”

Lou Ellen glared at Mr. Lawrence, but he didn’t move from his spot next to Drew. She had been watching their moves like a hawk, ever since she had sat with Will at the table near the window.

“You have no right to be jealous,” Will told her, stirring the tea in his cup. “She doesn’t know you fancy her.”

“I wouldn’t even if she did,” Lou Ellen said.

Mitchell and Drew had convinced Mr. Grace to hold a ball at Netherfield, not that it had been hard. He was convinced the second Drew said ‘Piper always has so much fun at balls’. At the moment, Drew was with Piper, Austin and Kayla, buying some ribbons to go with their dresses. Drew had invited Mr. Lawrence to go with them, as soon as she had recognized him on the street.

“You should ask her to dance with you tonight,” Will said. “Before Mr. Lawrence does.”

“You should worry about Mr. Caesar, who never leaves you alone.”

Will rolled his eyes. “He has no second intention. He is just a strange man.”

“Aren’t you the same one who says Alphas that give more than a second glance to Omegas, do so because they want to bed them?”

Before Will could respond, Mr. Grace entered the shop, the dark shadow that was Mr. di Angelo right behind him. Will had to stop himself from rolling his eyes.

“Do not turn,” he quietly told Lou Ellen. “But Mr. di Angelo and Mr. Grace are here.”

Lou Ellen promptly turned, giving the both of them a bright smile. They stood to greet Mr. Grace and Mr. di Angelo, who bowed their heads right back. When Mr. Grace asked to sit with them, Mr. di Angelo sent him a glare that screamed betrayal.

“Of course,” Lou Ellen said. “It would be our pleasure, Mr. Grace.”

“I hope we will see each other at the ball, tomorrow,” Mr. Grace said.

Will smiled. “Of course. I wanted to sincerely apologize for my siblings’ manners, or lack of thereof. Sometimes, they don’t realize how they are acting.”

Mr. Grace reassured Will, but Mr. di Angelo’s attention had been caught by something outside the window, and when Will followed his gaze, he realized he was watching Piper and Mr. Lawrence. Mr. Lawrence’s confession came back to Will’s mind in full force, and he had to fight against the anger clawing in his chest.

“Mr. Lawrence,” Will said. “I heard you already know him, Mr. di Angelo.”

Mr. di Angelo startled, hitting the table with his knee. Mr. Grace’s attention quickly shifted to him, as did Lou Ellen’s.

“If you’ll excuse me,” Mr. di Angelo said, before standing and leaving quickly.

“What did you tell him?” Lou Ellen asked, crossing her arms on the chest.

“Nothing,” Will said. “I only noticed that he was watching my siblings on the other side of the road, and I told him who the man with them was.”

Mr. Grace looked over at Will’s siblings, squinting his eyes. “Oh, I don’t think Nico knows him. He probably remembered about something he needs to do.”

So Will had his confirmation, that Mr. Grace simply didn’t know much of Mr. di Angelo, especially what type of man he was, to steal from someone for simple pettiness.

“He seems so mysterious,” Lou Ellen said. “Mr. di Angelo, I mean. No one seems to know a thing about him.”

Mr. Grace scratched his neck, a shy smile on his face. “He doesn’t like it when people pay him too much attention.”

Will had to restrict himself from scoffing. As if. Mr. di Angelo had proved himself to a be a prideful and arrogant man, time and time again. He was the type of man who would have walked into a duel without a gun, believing himself that much better than his opponent. He wasn’t the first Alpha of the type that Will had met, although he was the first to make flames spark in his chest.

The ball was absolutely beautiful. Unluckily, it didn’t seem like Will would be enjoying the night. As soon as he had tried to reach Lou Ellen and Cecil, Mr. Caesar had attached himself to Will’s side, as though afraid to leave him.

Once more, Mr. Caesar thought himself in need of congratulating Mr. di Angelo on both his family and his achievement. Mr. di Angelo didn’t seem pleased in the slightest, but Will took the possibility, and escaped.

“You won’t believe what is happening,” Cecil said, as soon as Will reached him.

Before Will could give a response, Cecil turned him by force, so that he would face the dance floor, where Lou Ellen and Drew were twirling together.

“How has _that_ happened?” Will asked, in complete delight.

Cecil laughed. “I told Lou Ellen I was about to ask Drew to dance, and that I planned to see whether we had what we needed to mate.”

“Oh, good Lord, that’s disgusting,” Will said.

“How is that the point? Lou Ellen got offended and told me to _know my place_.”

Will laughed. “It’s disgusting because the thought of any of my sibling with you, makes me want to puke, _Mr. Markowitz_.”

It was later, when Will and Cecil were resting on the sidelines with Kayla and Austin, that Mr. Caesar found him again, and revealed, as his pale, blue eyes never left Will’s, that he planned on enjoying the night in Will’s company.

“After all,” Mr. Caesar continued, ignoring how Austin and Kayla were holding onto each other, shaking with silent laughter. “I have been told many times that I have a very light footage, perfect for dancing.” He offered Will his hand, too fast, barely missing sticking it in his face. “If you’ll concede me the honor of proving myself.”

And as they walked to the dance ground, Will looked back at his siblings and his friend, but they were all laughing at him. He even caught Mr. di Angelo’s eyes, and he seemed amused plenty.

Another dance began, and Will positioned himself next to Piper. She was dancing with Mr. Grace, and she seemed to share his pain when she saw who had come with him. As they moved, Will found himself following two conversations, separated from one only to continue the other.

“You won’t believe what I heard,” Piper told him quietly. “Mr. Lawrence–”

“You see, Mr. Solace, my patron, Lady Demeter, she wishes for me to–” Mr. Caesar started.

“–Mr. Grace had invited him, but he had to return to London abruptly–”

“–take a spouse, she is a traditionalist, and I couldn’t help but come to–”

“–and I was told that he actually wanted to come, but then–”

“–Longbourn with the desire of finding my spouse amongst one of my cousins–”

“–Mr. di Angelo went in search of him, and after their talk he disappeared.”

Will missed a step, and stumbled. He turned to Piper, but she had already moved, while Mr. Caesar was looking around, confused as to where his partner had gone. However, the song had come to an end, and Will sneaked off the dance room.

Austin was sitting at the piano with Mitchell, whose head rested on his shoulder. As Austin played the piano flawlessly, Lacy screeched obnoxiously, in what she thought was a perfect example of good singing. Mitchell’s shoulders shook, and his face was red. Although he was laughing like a madman, poor Lacy didn’t have a clue.

Will walked to the side of the room, where Mr. Solace was quietly enjoying the show.

“Father,” Will pleaded him. “Can you do something before they humiliate themselves and us further?”

Mr. Solace sighed. “They are only having fun.”

“Father,” Will said again.

Mr. Solace shook his head. “You will be the death of me,” he said, but he moved, and less than a minute later, another Omega girl had sat at the piano.

Will avoided the stairs, where Mrs. Solace was talking animatedly and loudly to Mrs. Blackstone and Mr. Wakefield about what a beneficial wedding Piper would have. To avoid being seen by Mr. Caesar, Will had to step aside, and walked into Mr. di Angelo.

Mr. di Angelo looked at him, the imperious eyebrow raised. If Will had some more of his family pettiness in himself, he would have told Mr. di Angelo to have it checked by a doctor.

“Mr. Solace,” Mr. di Angelo said, with a quick bow of his head.

“Mr. di Angelo.” Will waited for Mr. di Angelo to say something else, or to move out of the way, but when he didn’t, he took it upon himself to talk. “It is a beautiful ball.”

“Yes,” Mr. di Angelo said, as though it had been a question. “Are you enjoying yourself?”

“I am,” Will said, and only later realized it wasn’t the truth. “Are you?”

“I rarely enjoy myself at balls.”

“Then do you come to make sure everyone else is as miserable as you, Mr. di Angelo?”

“I never said I was miserable. Not enjoying myself doesn’t equal them. If I were miserable, I would make sure to mask it, as to not offend anyone.” Mr. di Angelo tilted his head, almost exposing his neck. While Omega showed theirs, Alphas and Betas usually kept it covered. “As to why I come, I am respectful enough to not ignore people’s invitation. In this particular case, wouldn’t it be even worse, being in a room alone when I can hear the music and others?”

Will’s next words were proof that he had indeed some of his family’s pettiness. He smiled, so sweet it was saccharine. “Music you wouldn’t dance to, because the company isn’t pretty enough for you?”

Mr. di Angelo had the audacity of blushing. Will found a particular kind of pleasure in it, that slowed his heart and relaxed his muscles.

“The company is pretty plenty,” Mr. di Angelo said, as though the words were crawling their way out of his throat. He looked at the other side of the room, before squaring his shoulders, and turning to a confused Will, to say: “Would you dance with me?”

And Will, as he wasn’t one to back down from a challenge, gratefully accepted.

Mr. di Angelo’s heart was beating wildly, and Will could hear it even above the music. Maybe he really didn’t like having people’s attention on himself, and everyone’s eyes were on them. Mr. di Angelo had only ever danced with his group, after all.

“Life in the countryside must be boring to you,” Will said. The imperious eyebrow rose, and he had to restrain himself from stomping his foot, preferably on Mr. di Angelo’s. “If you are used to the city.”

“Different, but not boring,” Mr. di Angelo said. He added, as if it were an afterthought, “I thought it would be.”

“Maybe because you moved with a group,” Will said. “Everything is more enjoyable that way.”

“If that is what you think, being in such a big family must be a pleasure to you.”

“A group to move with can be chosen.” Will sent a glance at Mitchell, who was chatting up a man in the corner of the room. “However, family can’t.”

Mr. di Angelo followed his gaze. For a moment, something like understanding filled his eyes.

Their dance came to an end. Will had to admit that Mr. di Angelo wasn’t a terrible dancer, but he also had to remind himself that it didn’t make him any less of a terrible person. Mr. Lawrence’s story was proof of that.

Mrs. Solace had drunk too much at the ball, and to escape her and her nerves, Piper, Will and Drew escaped to the fields. They went out before breakfast, Will didn’t even have time to tame his curls or to wash his hands after caring for his plants. Drew and Piper appeared at the door, and Drew put a hand on his mouth before he could protest. Piper had a basket in her hands.

“We are escaping,” Drew whispered. “You can come with us, or forget we have ever existed.”

Right that moment, Mrs. Solace’s cry of despair reached their ears. Piper flinched. Will took a decision, and they ran before anyone else could notice they weren’t in bed, buried under their furs.

So they sat on a blanket by the river, the rising sun turning the sky pink. They chatted, but the silence would have been filled by the birds’ chirping and the river flowing, if they hadn’t.

“How was it, dancing with Lou Ellen?” Piper asked Drew.

Something shut in Drew’s face, and she turned to Will, as though unsure on what she should respond.

“You know she has fancied you for years, right?” Will asked.

Drew’s eyes filled with wonder, as though a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She tilted her head to the side, and for once she looked her age, and so beautiful and confident in her skin. “She does?”

Will’s smile turned softer. “Of course she does. Why do you think she has kept me around for so long? She just wants to know about you.”

“I liked it,” Drew revealed. She avoided both Piper’s and Will’s eyes, instead focusing on the slice of cheese in her hands. “I liked dancing with Lou Ellen.”

“She is a good Beta,” Piper said.

Drew rolled her eyes, shrugging with only one shoulder. “Whatever.” She couldn’t hide the smile on her face.

“What about Mr. Grace?” Will asked Piper. “Do you think he has the intention of marrying you?” _He_ knew the answer already.

Piper blushed to the tip of her ears. “I wouldn’t know.”

“Have you never talked about the future?” Drew asked. She narrowed her eyes. “What do you spend so much time together for, if you don’t even talk?”

“We talk plenty,” Piper defended herself. “What I mean, is that I don’t know whether he sees that for our future.”

“What will you answer when he asks?” Will asked.

Drew giggled, covering her mouth with her hand, while Piper rolled her eyes, and corrected him.

“ _If_ he asks.” She looked down at her hands, and smiled. “I would say yes.”

“I want you to know,” Mr. Solace told Will, as soon as he, Piper and Drew walked in the house. “That I will not force you.”

“But it’s the only way,” Mrs. Solace added, her enchanting smile a force of destruction. “So you will know what to say, for your family.”

Mr. Solace exhaled sharply, but Will interrupted them before it could evolve into a real fight.

“What is going on?” He asked.

Neither of them had time to respond. Mr. Caesar arrived from the stairs, peeling Jonathan’s grabby hands off himself. Jonathan, who smelled distressed, and had tears running down his face.

Will kneeled, and Jonathan ran past Mr. Caesar, throwing himself at Will, muttering about not going, not leaving. Mrs. Solace bent down, trying to take him. He had his face hidden in Will’s neck, scenting him heavily before giving up, and letting go.

“Would you accompany me for a walk?” Mr. Caesar asked, and it took Will a moment to realize that he was the one being talked to.

Will searched for his father’s eyes, but he looked away. Mrs. Solace looked far more delighted than she had sounded in the morning. She hadn’t looked so happy in years. She accepted Mr. Caesar’s offer for him, pushing Will out of the door, and he didn’t even realize until the sun was shining in his eyes.

Mr. Caesar walked closer, but Will took off walking before he could offer his arm. They hadn’t even reached the gates when Mr. Caesar started talking.

“As I tried telling you yesterday night, I have been wanting to take a spouse,” he said. Will stumbled, his throat dry. Mr. Caesar didn’t even notice. “When I came here, it was with the idea of finding one amongst my cousins. I would have preferred to take a female one, as I have always found the adoption practice quite tedious.”

“Mr. Caesar–”

“There are many reasons I find the union between us will be beneficial. The first, I am a very generous man, you would never need anything, so long as you are with me. The second–”

“Mr. Caesar, I–”

“–I am a clergyman, I live by the rules of the Lord, which bring me to–”

“Mr. Caesar,” Will interrupted him again, stopping in his tracks, and the other had no choice but to notice, and stop, too. “I haven’t said I would marry you.”

Mr. Caesar blinked. “Are you one of those who wish to hear the question?”

“There’s no need for that,” Will said. His heart was beating so loudly, he was sure Mr. Caesar could hear, too. “I already know my answer. And it is a no. I won’t marry you.”

Mr. Caesar blinked again, furrowing his eyebrows. “You won’t marry me.”

“No, I won’t. I have no intention to do so.” Will took a step back, without breaking eye-contact. “Apologies for wasting your time and attention. I would ask you not to follow me.”

Will turned, and didn’t wait a second more before he started running. He passed through the gates. Behind him, the door of the house opened, and Mrs. Solace ran after him, shouting about what an ungrateful son he was.

Mr. Caesar and his belonging were gone by the time Will returned home. Kayla said that he had left as soon as Will had ran away. Mitchell laughed when they met in the bedroom, but he was ignored in favor of Austin and Piper on the bed. The scent of distress was hanging in every corner of the room.

“I’m sorry for the house,” Will blurted out, falling on the bed. “But I couldn’t marry him, I don’t–”

“Will,” Austin interrupted him, shaking his head. Piper’s head stayed in the crook of his neck. “It’s not that.”

Austin offered Will a crumpled letter. Will’s fingers shook when he opened it, and smoothed it out. It was from Mrs. Jackson.

Will had to reread several times before he finally understood. She said they had returned to London, and didn’t know when–nor whether–they would be back. Mr. Grace had some urgent business in the city.

_In the meantime, I would hope to keep a correspondence with you. I have found a friend in you, and it would break my heart to lose that._

_Mrs. Jackson._

_PS: my husband says he will miss you, too._


	2. 2

PART TWO

Summer came slowly. The days turned longer, the temperature warmer, and one day fruits were where flowers had been.

Although the family participated to many social events, Piper never seemed to enjoy the dances quite as much as she the ones shared with Mr. Grace. Mr. Grace, the one whose name was never spoken in the house, more for Mrs. Solace’s destroyed nerves than Piper’s wellbeing. And when someone asked Piper how she was coping, Piper would smile, and say, “It’s becomes easier each day that passes.” Will didn’t believe her.

If there had once been a sense of expectation when they adventured to town, as there was a possibility of meeting Mr. Grace, seeing his and Piper’s story unfolding before their eyes, as Summer came they learnt to leave in boredom again.

And how dared Mr. Grace just walk out of Piper’s life without as much as a goodbye? The more the days passed, the more Will seethed, until bitter disappointment replaced the anger.

But Spring came to an end, and everyone knows that the big things in life always happen during the Summer.

In the first days of June, Mrs. Solace’s cousin invited Piper to London, and she didn’t think too long before accepting.

“After all,” she reasoned with Will, “it can’t hurt, can it? Every day I’m here, I am forced to see his ghost. I wander through the fields, and if someone calls my name, even if it isn’t his voice, I expect to see him when I turn.”

Mr. Caesar sent them a letter, and Mrs. Solace loudly announced that he was asking whether Mr. Solace was dead yet, although no one read it until dinner.

In the letter, Mr. Caesar apologized for felling the need to leave so harshly after Will’s outmost rejection. Despite that, he didn’t have any hard feelings for his cousins, and to show it he invited Will to visit him and his newly married wife, Mrs. Leila Caesar, a Beta.

“She must be very beautiful if he wants to rub her in front of Will,” Mitchell said.

“And she will have our house!” Mrs. Solace exclaimed, throwing her napkin on the table, only to ask Jonathan to give it back to her a second later. “She will throw us on the streets, and now none of us will survive. We will die, all of us!”

Will didn’t mention that Drew had been sneaking off to the fields more lately, to return late and with red cheeks, so at least one would survive. He didn’t say it, but he gave her a pointed look. She glared right back.

“I’ll go with Will,” Mitchell said. “I want to see her, too. She is probably really ugly if she has agreed to marry him.”

“You won’t come with me,” Will said. “I’ll go alone.”

Mr. Solace raised both eyebrows. “You are willingly going to Mr. Caesar’s house?”

“I don’t have much better to do,” Will reasoned. “And he can’t have become worse than he was during his visit.”

Mitchell groaned, slumping in his seat. “You are always so little fun.”

“He expects you to bring one of your siblings, though,” Mr. Solace said.

Three days later another letter came. It was from another long-lost cousin of Mrs. Solace, who invited one of her children to visit her, as she was going south with her husband, and since their children were already married, she would have felt alone. For obvious reasons (he was her favorite child, and Drew had reclined the offer, as she didn’t want her studies to suffer, which was an utter lie) she chose Mitchell.

“She is rubbing it in my face,” Mrs. Solace seethed, ripping a hole in the napkin. “She is rubbing it!”

Mr. Solace patted her back, but didn’t hide the amusement from his face. After all, as he often said, he wouldn’t be around to see his children fall in disgrace.

Mr. Caesar’s house was beautiful, immersed in a green scenery. They certainly paid a lot in gardener, as many different kinds of flowers were on either side of the street. Mr. Caesar was at the door, standing straight beside a beautiful woman. Will blinked several time, but despite Mitchell’s prediction, it didn’t change.

Will was given a tour of the house, before Mr. Caesar had to leave, and Will was left alone with Mrs. Caesar. It would have been his life, if he had been any more afraid of saying no to the Alpha. He couldn’t find it in himself to regret his choice, not even as a they drank tea from shining, expensive cups, in Mrs. Caesar’s private parlor.

Left alone, Will and Mrs. Caesar quickly dropped the formalities. It didn’t take long for them to bond, as Will had the ability of putting people at ease.

“It isn’t easy,” she later admitted. “Being married to him. Being married in general, I think.” She leaned closer, a grimace curling her delicate lips. “And his patron is a nightmare at times.”

“Lady Demeter?” Will asked.

She nodded, widening her eyes. “She wants to know everything we do. We have been married for two weeks, and every time I see her, she asks whether I am pregnant already.”

A matching grimace fell on Will’s face. “ _Lord_. I met her grandson, he was a real nightmare, too.”

“Mr. di Angelo? I only met him once, and he was very closed off. Although I have to say, I have heard many good things about him, especially from the servants.”

Will’s nose scrunched up. “I wouldn’t know, the first time we met, he called me not pretty enough to tempt him into dancing.”

Leila’s jaw went slack. “Oh, Goodness! What did you tell him?”

“Oh, I stumbled upon that conversation for a chance.” Will waved his hand in dismissal, as for him it had quickly become a matter to laugh about. “I was at the right place at the right time. I’m ashamed to admit that I later rubbed it in his face.”

Leila laughed, hiding her mouth behind her hand, and Will couldn’t help but join her, despite having a blush on his face.

Luckily, Mr. Caesar wasn’t home the second day of Will’s stay either. Leila brought him to the beautiful fields near the river, and Will enjoyed every second of it. The first day, his hair was slicked back, as Mrs. Solace had forced him in a chair and done it, but after a bath he didn’t bother repeating the process himself.

“Do you come from around here?” Will asked Leila, as they strolled around a path. “I didn’t ask yesterday.”

“Yes, I lived here my whole life,” she said. She looked up at the sky, as though it held the answers to her every question. “I always thought I would travel a bit more before getting married.”

“You can come to Longbourn anytime you want,” Will said. “I must already tell you, my father’s wife will be absolutely insufferable.”

She furrowed her eyebrows. “Your father’s wife?”

“My step-mother,” Will explained. “My mother died when I was thirteen. My father is his current wife’s third husband.”

“She had been married two times and he still married her?”

Will shrugged, turning his eyes up to the sky, too. It was a dark grey, not the best of premonition with which walking, but Leila was sure that it wouldn’t rain. “They had been friends for years, they knew they wouldn’t fall in love. She had four children, my father three, and they had another together. They needed an Alpha – or Beta – heir.”

“It doesn’t sound very romantic.”

“Oh, it isn’t. My father was in love with my mother, and Aphrodite – his wife – was with her previous husbands. Maybe she accepted to marry my father because she was tired of falling in love.”

“It’s terrible to think, isn’t it?”

Will shrugged. A part of him couldn’t help but think whether it wouldn’t be good for her, to find another man to fall in love with for real after having married Mr. Caesar. He couldn’t follow that line of thought for much longer, as a shout of Leila’s name came from afar, and Will’s own decency stopped her.

They both turned – Leila a bit startled – to see a dark-skinned girl walking in a fast pace towards them; long, curly hair bouncing on her back. When she got closer, Will realized that she looked like someone he knew, but he couldn’t get a name. Underneath her sweet scent lingered another, manlier and Alpha-like. It was slight, but it tingled Will’s nose, and even if he didn’t recognize it, it rubbed him the wrong way.

She and Leila greeted one another informally. Hazel, Leila called her.

“This is my husband’s cousin,” Leila said.

Hazel tilted her head to the side, narrowing her eyes as a smile brightened her features even more. “So you are a Solace.”

“I am,” Will said. In front of such a beaming smile, the previous annoyance, caused by the scent, melted as snow under the sun. “It’s very nice to meet you, Miss…?”

“Levesque,” Hazel said, bowing her head. “Miss Hazel Levesque, but just Hazel is fine.”

Will repeated her gesture. “William Solace.”

“Hazel is Lady Demeter’s granddaughter,” Leila said.

Will nodded. It took him a moment to connect the dots, thus recognizing the scent. “I think I know your cousin.”

“Brother, actually,” she said. “We have both taken our mothers’ surnames. And believe me, I already knew.”

But before she could give an explanation, the sky broke above them, with such fury one would have thought they had wronged God themselves. They shared one look, and ran for their lives.

When they finally entered the house, they were all shivering. Will pushed his wet hair, sticking to his forehead, away. They were getting too long, Mrs. Solace had threatened to cut them for weeks.

Soon, they were all sitting in front of the fireplace, steaming cups of water in their hands, and blankets on their back. Will even wished he had brought his furs from home.

“So, you know all of my cousins, William?” Hazel asked him.

Will smiled. “I met them, yes.” Was that enough to say, in regards of the time they had spent together? The balls, the times they had run into each other in town. It surely wasn’t half enough to explain Piper’s heartbreak. “Mr. Grace once told me you were supposed to go with them.”

Hazel giggled. She really was a lovely Omega. “Oh, yes. But my brother plotted against me.”

“Plotted?” Will repeated.

Hazel waved a hand in dismissal. “Sometimes he forgets that I am grown, and I don’t need anyone to take decisions for me. Still, I can’t help but understand him, you know?” She stirred her tea, taking a long sip before continuing. “When our father died, I was only sixteen, and I took a couple of wrong decisions, which I often try to forget about. He took care of me. I don’t think he will ever see me as an adult, even when I mate and have children.”

Will nodded, sadness bitter on his tongue. “Oldest brothers are annoying like that.”

“Do you have any?” Leila asked.

“I did,” he said softly. “They were both Alphas.”

Little kids always have a special kind of adoration for their oldest siblings, so pure it really must have been sent by God. Will had always thought so. He saw it anytime he locked eyes with Jonathan. Sometimes, Kayla still looked at Will like he had hung the moon in the sky. Austin did so far less. Lacy sometimes let her guard down, and she was the second to younger among them, her happiness was always refreshing. Mitchell had only ever looked at them as though they were ants, but Will was pretty sure they weren’t _completely_ hated. He, Drew and Piper shared a different kind of bond, more mature than the others’. He surely adored Piper, and Drew did, too, even if she forgot it at times.

Hazel left when the rain finally stopped pouring from the sky, saying her grandmother had to be searching for her. Mr. Caesar returned home from the city not long later, and asked whether they had been home all day. Leila giggled, and told him the whole story (or what she could, as Mr. Caesar wasn’t much interested in stories that didn’t involve him or the Lord).

“We will visit Lady Demeter tomorrow,” Mr. Caesar said. His eyes bore holes in Will’s. “She was kind enough to extend her invitation to you as well.”

“I’m not sure I have clothes beautiful enough to meet her,” Will said.

Mr. Caesar visibly shivered. “It isn’t a problem, Mr. Solace. Lady Demeter prefers humble people.”

Will nodded, but he didn’t need to meet her, to know she wouldn’t be humble at all, more similar to her arrogant grandson than her joyous granddaughter.

Once again, Will was right. Lady Demeter was an aging dark-skinned woman, whose hair had turned white, but she kept her back straight. A lily was placed at the start of her braid, it was the same color as her clothes.

She looked at Will, raising an eyebrow, and he couldn’t see anyone but her grandson in him, even if they didn’t share any physical trait.

“William Solace, is it?” She asked, but it sounded more like a statement.

“It is,” Mr. Caesar intervened.

Lady Demeter nodded once, before turning her attention to Leila. As they waited for dinner, they stayed in the parlor, Hazel sitting next to her grandmother, and a woman unknown to Will on the armchair opposite to her. She leaned towards Will when he sat. Her scent was strong, heavy even if feminine. An Alpha.

“Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano,” she presented herself, the name falling easily off her tongue. “I’ve heard so much about you.”

Will raised his eyebrows. “From Hazel?”

“Oh, no. I know Mr. di Angelo and Mr. Grace quite personally,” she said, waving her hands. Two rings, one silver and one gold, simple bands on each middle finger, and they caught the light of the candles.

The doors opened, a familiar scent reached Will’s nostrils even before he turned. Even if the previous day Will asked Hazel whether her brother had come with her, and she said he hadn’t. She looked absolutely ecstatic to see him, jumping from her seat to hug him. Mr. di Angelo chuckled in her hair. Will found himself stunned by the sight.

“Please, don’t bother greeting me, _Nicolò_ ,” Lady Demeter said, the wrinkles on her forehead deepened.

Mr. di Angelo let go of his sister, and his eyes widened when they landed on Will. Miss Ramírez-Arellano’s gaze never left Mr. di Angelo, and she looked as though she were having lots of fun.

Lady Demeter cleared her throat, and Mr. di Angelo’s attention shifted back to her.

“As you wish, grandmother,” he simply said. He looked back at the door, clasping his hands behind his back, raising an eyebrow. “Is dinner quite ready?”

“Have some manners, boy,” Lady Demeter replied sternly. “Take a seat.”

Mr. di Angelo did as he was told, but not without winking at his sister first. _Winking_ , and she giggled. He told Hazel that he had come to escort her back the next day, so that she wouldn’t be alone during the ride. If possible, her smile widened even more.

“She is always like that,” Miss Ramírez-Arellano told Will quietly, leaning closer to him. “He can do no wrong in her eyes.”

Will turned to her, but he didn’t have time to ask the question on his tongue, as a servant announced that dinner was ready to be served. Lady Demeter demonstrated how much of a _humble and kind_ woman she was, when she threw a fit for the way they were about to sit, asking Mr. Caesar to move in Will’s place so that he would be next to his wife, leaving Will between Mr. di Angelo and Miss Ramírez-Arellano.

“I understand that you have many siblings, Mr. Solace,” Lady Demeter told Will.

“I do,” Will confirmed. “One older than me, and six younger.”

“And they are all in society already?”

“No, the youngest is only seven.”

“So many children in society, yet the first one isn’t even married.” Lady Demeter shook her head. “What a peculiar choice.”

She pronounced the words like they were venom to be spat, and it brought a smile to Will’s lips.

“It would have been cruel to keep the other children home as the oldest went out, wouldn’t it? It wouldn’t have encouraged siblinghood, I think.”

“Your mother must be a very strong woman to have birthed so many children,” Lady Demeter continued.

“My mother was particularly frail of health,” Will said. “She never bore any children. We were all adopted.”

“How _peculiar_ ,” Lady Demeter repeated. “All of you?”

Will thought of his oldest siblings, Piper’s older sister. He thanked God for having masked his scent, or it would have turned sour, and it was the last thing he wanted to happen in front of such an arrogant woman.

“I thought Lady Persephone would be here,” Mr. di Angelo said.

His way of cutting the conversation short lacked in smoothness, but for once Will was glad of his presence, even if Mr. di Angelo had to already know much of the Solaces, to be completely disinterested in the answer.

Lady Persephone, as Will understood from the following conversation, was Mr. di Angelo’s late father’s third wife. Miss Ramírez-Arellano was a close friend of both siblings, and she spent most of the dinner talking to them. She also knew Mr. Grace.

“He has been in London for the past few weeks,” she said about him. “His sister as well.”

Will only smiled, hoping Mr. Grace wouldn’t run into his sister, giving her the time she needed to grieve and move on.

After dinner, they moved to the parlor. Lady Demeter sat on a high chair, which resembled a throne engraved with flowers. Will sat between Mr. Caesar and Miss Ramírez-Arellano on the soft sofa.

“Plenty of these paints are made by Hazel,” Lady Demeter said, gesturing to the walls. “Do you paint, William?”

Will, ever so cordial, smiled. “Not really, no. Although I can see that Hazel is very good.”

“Strange.” Her eyebrow rose again, and so did Mr. di Angelo’s, as though it had been called. The idea alone so ridiculously funny that Will bit his lip to avoid giggling. “Did you not have a housekeeper to teach you?”

“We did,” Will said.

“And she didn’t?”

“She tried. Unluckily, I was a terrible child, and preferred painting the walls instead of canvas. Eventually, she surrounded.”

Mr. di Angelo coughed, his face as red as Hazel’s. He tried hiding his blossoming grin behind his hand, as Hazel raised her fan.

“Do you have anything to add, Nicolò?” Lady Demeter questioned, her voice stern.

Mr. di Angelo shook his head, without uttering a single word, nor raising his eyes from the floor, as his shoulders trembled.

Lady Demeter’s lips curled. “Can you show some contain, boy?”

However, Mr. di Angelo could not. He almost fell forward, and Hazel grabbed the back of his shirt to keep him up. He turned to red he would have passed for a tomato.

“They are always like this when they are together, Mr. Solace,” Miss Ramírez-Arellano told him quietly. Fondness sparked in her eyes, becoming a fire when Mr. di Angelo loudly guffawed.

Miss Ramírez-Arellano seemed to be a decent Alpha, and once more, Will couldn’t muster how a good person could be friends with Mr. di Angelo. He hadn’t forgotten Mr. Lawrence’s story, yet.

“Do you play the piano, William?” Lady Demeter continued.

“Only a little,” Will replied.

“Play it for us,” she ordered.

From her demanding tone alone, Will knew he wouldn’t. He opened his mouth to protest, sweet smile already in place, but Mr. Caesar accepted for him. Once more, locking eyes with Leila, who seemed unperturbed, he knew he could have never lived that type of life.

So Will sat at the piano, stretching his fingers. When he was only a child trying to keep up with his older Alpha brothers, he had broken the index of his left hand. It had never completely healed, but it felt like a lifetime ago. If it weren’t for the crook in his index, Will would have been sure, it was only a dream.

Concentrating as best as he could on playing, even if he missed a few notes here and there, he tuned out the conversation. At some point, Mr. di Angelo stopped next to him, calix in hand, eyebrow raised.

“Are you trying to intimidate me, Mr. di Angelo?” Will asked, looking up.

Mr. di Angelo swallowed, and Will’s had no choice but to follow the movement of his throat. “I know by now that you are not so easily intimidated, Mr. Solace.”

Will smiled down at his hands. He wanted to find a sense to what Mr. di Angelo had said, but there was a part of him that couldn’t help but be already satisfied. He didn’t understand why.

“Tell us, Mr. Solace,” Miss Ramírez-Arellano said loudly, without standing from her position, but claiming everyone’s attention. “How was our di Angelo in Meryton?”

“I’m afraid I don’t have many niceties to say, Miss Ramírez-Arellano.” Will locked eyes with Mr. di Angelo, who was as stiff as a statue. “The first time we met was at a ball, and he refused to dance, although many people were only waiting for an invite.”

Mr. di Angelo’s eyes remained on Will as he defended himself. “I didn’t know anyone.”

“And as everyone knows, one _absolutely_ can’t introduce himself at balls,” Will said. He raised an eyebrow, a ghost of a smile on his lips. If he had been any pettier, he would have reminded Mr. di Angelo how he’d heard him calling the company ‘not pretty enough’.

“I danced at the next ball,” Mr. di Angelo said. He raised the calix to his lips. There was a ring on his middle finger, a simple black band.

“After telling me that balls and dancing made you miserable,” Will replied.

“Lord, _Nico_ , you are a disaster,” Hazel said, and she sounded absolutely delighted.

Miss Ramírez-Arellano sighed, nodding tiredly. Lady Demeter rubbed her temples, calling a servant to pour her more wine, and Mr. di Angelo grimaced, as though he were swallowing a whole lemon.

Leila and Mr. Caesar had some urgent matter in the village, and Will preferred staying alone in the house.

His thoughts circled around the previous night, how Mr. di Angelo had somehow charmed Miss Ramírez-Arellano, enough for her to even define him a younger brother. He could easily explain Hazel’s adoration for him, as he was her brother. Mr. Grace had demonstrated himself to not be as much of an Alpha as he had seemed, so there was no reason to take him into consideration again. Maybe, if Will waited enough, Miss Ramírez-Arellano would show herself as another Mr. Grace.

He sat by the window in Leila’s private parlor, the only place in the house which wasn’t infested with Mr. Caesar’s scent. He wrote a letter to his sister, which he would send before going back home. However, it wasn’t long before a servant came, announcing Mr. di Angelo’s presence.

Mr. di Angelo, who only bowed his head to Will, let him do the same, and sat in front of him, on the other side of the table.

“Are you here for Mr. and Mrs. Caesar, Mr. di Angelo?” Will asked, when the silence became unbearable. “I’m afraid I’m here alone.”

Mr. di Angelo’s scent spiked, if only for a moment, and Will shivered. “I’m not.”

“Are you here for me, then?” Will’s voice was filled with confusion, but also a hint of surprise.

Mr. di Angelo’s eyebrow arched. He sat stiffly, and once again Will wondered whether he was a statue. “Hazel will stay for one more day. She would like to invite you for dinner again.”

“It would be a pleasure,” Will lied.

Mr. di Angelo seemed to catch onto that lie. “My grandmother won’t be there.”

“Oh,” Will said. A smile slowly spread on his lips. “Accepting your sister’s invitation would be a pleasure, then. I was under the impression that you would have left today.”

Mr. di Angelo cleared his throat. “We should have. Hazel has asked me to stay one more day, although she came to visit our grandmother, and she has already left. We will leave the morning of the day after tomorrow.” There was a moment of silence, then he looked down at the table, his eyes barely grazing over Will’s letter. “Are you writing to your family, Mr. Solace?”

“I am.”

“Are they well?”

Last time they had seen, Piper wasn’t. “They are. I understand that you come from London, maybe you have seen my sister. She is there with a maternal cousin of hers.”

Mr. di Angelo raised the other eyebrow as well. “I haven’t.”

He cleared his throat again, and Will wanted to tell him to have some honey, as it seemed quite sore. But Mr. di Angelo stood, and Will didn’t have time to say it, as Mr. di Angelo bowed his head, and left as though he were running from a fire.

Mr. di Angelo wasn’t there during dinner. Miss Ramírez-Arellano excused him, saying he had had some problems in his father’s proprieties, that needed to be resolved quickly.

“He has asked me to escort his sister back to Pemberley House,” she told Will. “She really doesn’t like traveling alone.”

On the last day of his stay, Will attended the Mass. Mr. di Angelo was in the front row, already there when Will arrived. Miss Ramírez-Arellano took the seat beside Will, tipping her head in greeting. He smiled back, scooting over to let her sit.

“How come you are already back?” Will asked her quietly.

“Hazel has forgotten an unfinished painting, and Nico came back to get it, although she has said many times that it wasn’t an urgency.” She shook her head, a fond look back on her face. “At times, I only follow him to make sure his tongue doesn’t get him into a fight in inns.”

Will didn’t say anything, his doubts about Miss Ramírez-Arellano resurfacing in his mind. He would have fallen asleep during Mr. Caesar’s salmon, if it weren’t for the rain shaking the windows.

“Is it your first time listening to his salmons?” Miss Ramírez-Arellano whispered to him.

“It is. I can’t say I wasn’t given signs. He spent a week or so at my house last Spring.”

“During the time of Nico’s visit to Meryton?”

Will nodded. “They also met. Mr. di Angelo might have erased the memory, he didn’t seem very fond of the place nor the people.”

“He always does, but that is rarely the truth. He doesn’t let many emotions slip on his face, has been thought since he was a child that Alphas shouldn’t let them through.” As she talked, Miss Ramírez-Arellano’s eyes were as hard as steel. She talked of him as one would have of their youngest sibling. “Although you don’t like him much, he is very loyal to his friends, protective of them. I learnt that just last Spring, he saved a friend of ours from a loveless engagement. Apparently, he was completely in love with a girl, and not only was she indifferent to him, she showed particular interest in his money.”

Will’s heart completely stopped. His eyes fell on Mr. di Angelo’s straight back. He didn’t have many expectations on the man, but as his palms turned clammy, he realized he had also been nursing the feeling that, just maybe, he was a terrible man, but not the most terrible of all. How could he have been, when his sister was so lovely?

Somewhere, Will found the strength the continue the conversation, even if his cheeks burnt as though he had been slapped. “He saved his friend?”

“I don’t know the details, none of them talks much about it. Our friends, he is utterly heartbroken. He was really taken with that girl. I can’t help but think that Nico has done taken the right decision. Also, the girl’s family, they were of an inferior social standing, and it appears that the mother was very ambitious.”

“Who says that the girl wasn’t in love as well?” Will asked, his eyes snapping from Mr. di Angelo’s head to Miss Ramírez-Arellano’s eyes. Now that his heart was beating again, the sadness had been replaced by anger.

Miss Ramírez-Arellano’s eyes widened. “Do you know the girl?”

Will was about the say that he knew, and also explain why, but the old woman in front of them turned to shush them. So Will bit his lip, raising his chin. For the rest of the function, Miss Ramírez-Arellano’s gaze was a sunflower, and Will’s face the sun.

Will almost ran out of the Church. He passed through the people, in need of a single breath of fresh air, until he got one, and it wasn’t nearly enough. He ran, and when his legs cried in despair, not able to carry him anymore, he took a moment of rest under the roof of the old town-hall. Drops were running down his face, and he didn’t know whether they were tears or rain.

A thunder shook the sky, covering the sound of steps, but the scent that he hadn’t been able to name filled Will’s nostrils, even over that of the rain.

“Are you completely insane?” Mr. di Angelo asked. “You will catch something, running under the rain like that.”

Will turned to him, biting his lip so hard it should have broken. “I don’t see you arriving with a carriage, Mr _. di Angelo_.”

Will had spat his name like it was a curse, as if it could be used to slap Mr. di Angelo’s stoic face, and color some emotion that wasn’t disdain, if only for once.

“I have something to confess to,” Mr. di Angelo suddenly said, his face turning into a new type of void boredom. “In vain I have struggled. It will not do. My feelings will not be repressed. You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you. In declaring myself thus I am fully aware that I will be going expressly against the wishes of my family, my friends, and, I hardly need to add, my own better judgment.”

If the ground had opened and swallowed him whole, Will would have been less surprised. There was disgust on Mr. di Angelo’s face, towards himself or maybe even Will. He shook his head. “It makes no sense.”

“What makes no sense?”

“Everything you have just said.”

“I love you, does that make enough sense to you now?” Mr. di Angelo shook his head, pushing the hair from his forehead. The clothes he wore were completely wet, and Will didn’t have to look down at himself to know his weren’t doing much better. “With the inferiority of your family, your _rank_ , it will never make sense.”

“It never will because this isn’t a confession, it is an accusation!” Will exclaimed. “If my standing gives you so much pain, then my rejection should bring you joy alone! After everything you have done to my friend, my family, me, you come and claim yourself a man in love? You must be joking.”

Mr. di Angelo scoffed, crossing his arms on the chest. “Your friend? Would you be so disgusted, had I not been honest in saying I take no joy in your social standing?”

Will’s skin burned, his heart running wildly in his chest. “Mr. Lawrence. Does the name ring any bell?”

Mr. di Angelo closed his jaw so tightly a muscle jumped. He didn’t say a thing, but for less than a second, his eyes flashed red. His scent spiked, and still he didn’t say a word. Will had no doubt that, if he had opened his mouth, he would have growled.

“He told me of what you did to him,” Will continued, venom slipping through the cracks of his voice. “How you ignored your father’s testament for pettiness and jealousy over a dead man’s love. With time, I could have even forgiven you for that if you had made amends to him, but what you did to my sister and Mr. Grace was somehow even worse.”

Mr. di Angelo let his arms fall. He moved closer, leaving wet trails in his wake. “Saving my friend from a loveless marriage?”

“My sister was in love, and still is, with Mr. Grace.” Will snarled the name of the traitorous Alpha who had gone and followed his friend’s advice instead of the seeing the truth. “When your party left, and I now know it was because of you and your ill-advice, she was left completely heartbroken, feeling a derision everywhere she went, as everyone had known she was hoping that Mr. Grace would ask her to marry him.”

“I watched them closely, and thought her indifferent.”

“She is shy!” Will said, and only realized he was yelling when his throat hurt. “She barely shows her affection to me, and I’m her brother!”

Mr. di Angelo took a step back, as if those very words had slapped him, more than anything else Will had said. Another thunder flashed in the sky, followed by a loud echo.

“And talking of others not showing their feelings when you have never shown anything but disgust to me, makes you both a liar and a hypocrite,” Will finished, heavily panting. With every breath, he caught more of Mr. di Angelo’s scent. There was a chant in his blood, asking for more.

“If this is all,” Mr. di Angelo said, his lips curled downwards, not in a show of disgust, but something Will hadn’t seen on him before. “Then I won’t steal any more of your precious time.”

He turned, and disappeared so quickly Will could have convinced himself to having dreamed every word and every anger, if it weren’t for the scent lingering in the air, and the buzzing underneath his skin.

It was late mid-summer, the day Will arrived home, and Piper’s scent of lavender hung in every corner, and her luggage still near the front-door. Jonathan’s laughter came from the parlor, and Will followed it, as if enchanted.

Will added himself to cuddling pair on the sofa, causing Jonathan to giggle and say that he wasn’t breathing. As quickly as they let him go, Jonathan ran out of the door, probably to chase the ducks in the courtyard.

Will told her of his time at Mr. Caesar’s house, although he had been home for some weeks, leaving out every bit concerning Mr. di Angelo. He didn’t want to rip any old wound open, both his and Piper’s. She later told him of her time in the city, how life was so different there, and made her miss every one of them. They moved to the stairs in front of the door, watching Jonathan run around.

“Did it work?” Will asked, afraid of the answer. When he closed his eyes, he still saw Mr. di Angelo, the water sticking his clothes to his body, the disgust in his eyes when he confessed those feelings that so deeply hunted him.

“I think so,” Piper said. “If I saw him on the streets, I might even not recognize him. Maybe in a couple of years I will laugh about it, and the way I fell so quickly, despite my best intentions.”

It constricted Will’s heart. He smiled, a tight one that he knew didn’t look natural.

“I almost forgot,” Piper said, clapping her hands, waiting for Will to look at her. “I met the postman as I was coming here, and he had a letter for you. I took it, but I was confused, as it is from Mr. di Angelo.”

Will’s heart stopped again. He turned to his sister, feeling stiff and awkward in his own skin. “Have you read it?”

“No, of course not.”

Piper took an envelope from the pocket of her long dress. Will’s fingers shook as she passed it to him, and he cradled it close to his chest.

“Do you have any idea what he wants?” She asked, her voice almost fragile, and Will wondered whether she had really forgotten about Mr. Grace, if only the ghost of his presence did this to her. “I didn’t think you two exchanged letters.”

“We don’t,” Will said. He cleared his throat, standing, but the pavement swayed under his feet. “I’ll go read it somewhere.”

Piper nodded, her eyes boring holes his back as he walked away.

Will sat by the river, the wind caressing the grass and making it dance behind him, as he looked up, wordlessly asking for the strength of opening that letter. Eventually, it came to him. Mr. di Angelo had written it by hand, in an elegant but rushed handwriting. The envelope, which had in fact seemed quite full, contained two sheets of paper. Will shook himself out of getting lost in the details, to finally read that letter. He wasn’t surprised by how Mr. di Angelo had avoided any term of greeting.

_Be not alarmed by receiving this letter, as I intend not to bother you with those feelings which have disgusted so much you in June, but only to explain myself. With that, I do not wish to persuade you into agreeing to feelings you firmly refused, nor to humble my character in any way. The only thing I wish for, is the possibility of telling you my motivations, as I can never talk properly, especially when I find myself around you. You revolted two accusations against me: the first, separating Mr. Grace and your sister; the second, which I regret far less, is throwing Mr. Lawrence’s life away. I would like to start with the first._

_I will not hide behind lies. It is true, I have separated Mr. Grace and your sister, and at the time I believed my reasons to be right. I looked at them closely, as my friend is sometimes too generous and is taken advance of, and I didn’t want to witness anything of the kind in Meryton, which for him was a fresh breath. I watched closely, saw my friend falling more and more in love, for someone that shied away from his offers. For a time, I believed that she was playing a game of sorts, trying to get him to want her more. I apologize for being such an Alpha._

_Jason couldn’t talk of anything if it didn’t concern her, and your step-mother never said that your sister was in love, but only that she hoped to finally marry her off, as I caught her saying numerous times. Other times again, and you were there, too, so you should remember, she talked of how Jason should have hurried in proposing, as Piper could have had any other Alpha she wanted._

_After the ball at Netherfield, I asked Miss Grace whether she had noticed it. We don’t often see things eye-to-eye, but we both care about Jason. So I invented having some urgent business in London, to which Miss Grace added herself as company. Jason added himself to the party, as we knew he would, and, although we hadn’t even thought of inviting Mr. and Mrs. Jackson, they came, too. We left during the night, and I only talked to Mr. Grace when we reached London, told him about my doubts, and he said he had shared them for some time, but thought he was only imagining her coldness towards him, as he misses the sun when it is covered by a cloud, with the faith that he will see it again._

_I was sure I had only protected him, and his heart broke, so we never came back to Netherfield. I recognize my fault, and I will never apologize enough to either Jason nor your sister for the heartbreak I have caused them both._

_As for the other matter, that of Mr. Lawrence, I am sure he told you a story. If you are willing to read more, I would like to tell you the real story, as long as it is._

_I was my parents’ second born child. My sister Bianca died before she could present, but she had a frail scent. Even as a Beta, my parents had chosen her as an heir, and my being born an Alpha wouldn’t have changed that. I wanted to be a merchant, as my maternal grandfather was, and travel Europe and the rest of the world. I was young when my mother died, and my father married Hazel’s mother. However, she died, too._

_For all that time, Bryce’s father worked for mine. He died when his son was eight, and I was seven. My father raised Bryce like a son, and I saw him so much as a brother, that I thought he would have been my father’s heir, when Bianca died. She was thirteen, and I was ten. Her death was a terrible accident, that involved my cousin Percy. I blamed him, under the influence of Bryce, but we were both children, and I can’t find it in myself to hold a grudge anymore._

_Bryce was afraid of many things. He didn’t want to lose his family, and neither did I. With the years, we grew closer and closer, to the point that I thought he would never leave my life, I didn’t wish for it._

_My father died when I was nineteen. It was a terrible time, I won’t lie. I tried to take care of all of his possessions, affirming myself so that I would be respected enough to not be challenged, before risking battles I couldn’t have won. I managed to affirm myself in that way, but I had left my family for too long, and when I returned, things had irreparably changed. I didn’t even realize._

_Not long after my father’s death, Bryce told me that he didn’t wish to be a clergyman, thus taking the living my father had prepared for him, and asked for money instead. I accepted, and the next morning he was gone. Hazel was heartbroken, as she always cares too deeply._

_Not a week had passed, when Bryce returned, saying he had made the greatest of mistakes, spending to the last penny in gambling and drinking. He asked for forgiveness, and I told him he didn’t need any, as he was a brother to me. I was a fool to think it would be all he would have done._

_The following morning, Lady Persephone, my father’s third wife, left for her mother’s house. She had helped me, but she needed peace and time to grieve. How one could find peace with Lady Demeter still goes beyond me. The day she left, is the day I would have needed the most guidance, to see what was happening behind me._

_Bryce left to study, and eventually taking his living. Not two months later, he asked me to give him more money, and I refused, knowing he would have spent it before night came. I had grown prideful in those days, and I appear to still be. If in his story he said that I have laughed in his face, I can make no deny. He also said that he couldn’t find any happiness in his studies, and I told him that there would always be a place for him with me._

_So he abandoned his studies, and returned to live with me and Hazel. Even when he returned, I didn’t feel any less alone, but still kept everyone away. I didn’t acknowledge my pain, nor did I notice Hazel’s._

_She was young, only sixteen, and Bryce has always been charming. I loved him so much, I couldn’t even be jealous of that. He charmed my sister, while I was too blinded with the pain caused by my new responsibilities, the ones I had never wished for. To this day, I don’t know exactly what lies he told her, but she believed that he loved her, and she mistook the brotherly love she held for him for something else. Understand that she was in a fragile state, and he took advance of that._

_They ran away. I tracked them not too far, as Bryce may be charming, but he surely isn’t the brightest. He didn’t think that I would be able to find my sister through scent alone, even when it was only barely lingering in the air. For the first time, I thanked God for being born with the nose of an Alpha. I paid Bryce, and he promised to disappear from our lives._

_When I saw him from the tea-shop last Spring, I thought it was a nightmare. I didn’t know he had become a soldier. I went to talk to him the morning of the ball in Netherfield. I have to admit, I didn’t like how he was always around you and your siblings. However, I didn’t get to speak to him, as when I arrived he was drunk, and I have too much dignity to try to speak to someone who wouldn’t even recall the conversation the following day._

_I believe that this is all I have to say. I wish I had been able to tell you earlier, Mr. Solace, but as I have already said, there is something about you that makes my tongue tie. If you do not believe my words, I would ask you not to ask Hazel, who still finds shame in the naivety of her young age, but to Reyna, whom I always confessed my crimes to. I realize that there is nothing more I could ever ask you for, but as you said I am an arrogant man, so, if you will, consider my sister your friend, despite the brother she has found herself with. As you once told me, one does chose their family._

_I hope this letter finds you and your family in good health and well,_

_my best wishes,_

_Nicolò di Angelo._

Drew found Will with tears running down his face, and an expression so devastated that his sadness couldn’t be mistaken. She sat by him, nosing along his scent gland, covering his sour scent with her own.

“What is it?” She asked.

But Will only shook his head. “It’s nothing.” She didn’t bulge, and it wasn’t long before Will spilled the truth. “As you know, Mr. Caesar works for Lady Demeter, Mr. di Angelo’s grandmother. I met both him and his sister there.”

“Your luck is incredible at times,” Drew said.

“I know. I learnt some things about him, and his past, but also about Mr. Grace.” Will sighed, and found Drew looking up at him. “Should I tell Piper? She says she is finally doing better, and I don’t want to rip an old wound open.”

“I don’t think you should tell her. Mr. Grace is not our problem anymore, and he broke her heart. He can stay wherever he is.” Her nose scrunched up. “The only thing she can do now, is moving forward, and leave him in the past.”

Up until the end of the Summer, they were in peace. Piper settled back to life in the countryside, the younger siblings – besides Mitchell, who would return when August ended – went back to their lessons, and Aphrodite’s nerves gave up every other hour.

Will tried his best not to think of Mr. di Angelo, busying himself every time the thought resurfaced. However, when he closed his eyes at night, he couldn’t help but get through their every interaction, and everything he had ever been told about the man.

He thought of their only dance together. Mr. di Angelo’s heart had beaten wildly, and even then, Will had wondered whether it was for the attention. After Mr. di Angelo’s confession, he wondered whether it was for _his_ particular attention.

In August, their aunt Artemis wrote a letter to her brother, asking whether Will was willing to visit Derbyshire with her and another friend. Not a week later, Will was leaving again.

Artemis didn’t like traveling alone. Will wasn’t sure what her business in London was, he knew that she fought social battles, and had some contacts inside the Parliament, especially in the House of Commons. For that particular travel, Will was with her and Hippolytus, a Beta working for her. He wasn’t fond of marriage, mating and romance, as he told Will himself.

“Derbyshire is beautiful this season,” Artemis said, the third night of their tour.

They were sleeping in inns, and they had been lucky enough not to meet any Alpha nor Beta who gave them a hard time, despite some people’s stares staying uncomfortably long on Will, at times.

Hippolytus nodded. “Are we visiting the di Angelo estate tomorrow? I heard it’s stunning.”

Will almost dropped his glass. “Pemberley, you mean?”

Hippolytus nodded again, tilting his head to the side. “You look like you have seen a ghost. Are you quite alright?”

“Just a bit tired,” Will said, and it wasn’t a lie. “What were you saying about tomorrow?”

Artemis chuckled. “We are visiting the di Angelo estate tomorrow, or Pemberley. I wrote to the housekeeper, and she is willing to have us. Although Mr. di Angelo won’t be there.”

“Are you sure?” Will insisted, leaning forward on the table. “That he won’t be home.”

Artemis furrowed her eyebrows. “Did you want to meet him? I hear he’s grown to be quite gorgeous.”

Heat rose to Will’s face. He blurted a negative answer out, the words tumbled down his tongue, but he didn’t wish to know whether his aunt and Hippolytus had heard him. He gave them both a tight smile, bid them goodnight, and escaped before they could understand what had happened.

Pemberley House wasn’t far from the town of Lambton. They walked there, as Artemis was as fond of walking as Will.

Pemberley House was on the opposite side of the valley, and it caught the eye, despite being in perfect harmony with the natural beauty of the place.

The housekeeper was an old woman called Beatrice, whose words were stained by an Italian accent. In fact, as she led them inside, she revealed that late Mr. di Angelo had employed her shortly before his first marriage, so that his wife would have someone to talk to in her native language.

“He loved her so much,” she said. “That although she was an Omega and he an Alpha, he took her name. Come, I’ll show you the gallery with the family portraits.”

“I met him once,” Artemis said later on, as they stopped in front of a paint of late Mr. di Angelo. “He always looked so stoic.”

Will thought the same of his son. They looked like one another, and even in the portrait, Mr. di Angelo wore dark clothes.

“He did, didn’t he?” Beatrice said, tilting her head to the side. Melancholic joy shone between the tears in her eyes. “I remember when Bianca was born, and how happy they were.”

Next was a family portrait, in which Mr. di Angelo was only a baby, laying in his crib with the rest of the family around it. Will remained in front of it for a longer time, even when the others had moved on. His aunt called him out.

“Are you having baby fever, dear?” She asked teasingly, poking him in the belly. “Should we expect any surprise?”

Will only blushed.

Bianca di Angelo and her brother shared many qualities, such as their eyes. Beatrice confirmed as much.

“It’s strange sometimes, to walk here and see all their faces, when only one is left,” she said. “I look at him, and I can see Bianca, Maria and Hades, too. It’s a heavy luggage to carry, for only one person.”

A knot tightened Will’s throat. Even if he wanted, he couldn’t find it in himself to talk.

They passed by another section, that had portraits of Mr. di Angelo’s second wife, Miss Levesque. She looked much like her daughter, which Beatrice said wasn’t as good a thing, as she had gone through a bad time after her pregnancy.

“She was happy when she was expecting,” she told them. “But afterwards, she couldn’t find such joy in anything else. She wanted other children, but her health was too frail, and Mr. di Angelo had to refuse her. It broke her heart.”

Late Mr. di Angelo’s wife was called Persephone. She was still alive, as Will knew, and spent most of her time with her mother, although she sometime came back, to make sure that the children were doing well.

In the last section were portraits of only the children.

“Bianca was beautiful,” Artemis said. “But what I liked the most about her, was her cleverness.”

“You knew her, madam?” Beatrice asked, raising her eyebrows in surprise.

Although he didn’t see himself, Will knew he wore the same expression.

“She visited London with her father, not long before she passed,” Artemis replied. “She wanted to work with the Hunters of Diana, when she was older.”

Beatrice shook her head. “Such a tragedy.”

Will stopped in front of a painting of Mr. di Angelo, made not too long ago, he could tell. He recognized the style, as he had seen it already.

“Is this Hazel’s painting?” He asked.

Beatrice nodded. “Do you know her, sir?”

“I met her in Rosings in June,” Will said. “But I already knew her brother, from when he visited Meryton.”

“Tell me, is he as handsome as he is in these paintings?” Artemis asked.

Beatrice chuckled, stating that he was. Artemis’ eyes stayed on Will, and if her smile was anything to go by, his blush was answer enough for her.

Lastly, Beatrice brought them to the library, but Will was lost in the way. A slow melody played on the violin reached his ears, and as a fool he followed it. Since he was always behind them, his companions didn’t even notice.

The door was left ajar. In the air lingered a familiar scent, sweet. Only when he noticed, did Will know that he was hoping for another. He stumbled back, but Hazel’s melody didn’t even falter.

Will turned, and before he knew it, he was on the balcony, and then down to the connected stairs. He passed through the gardens, breathing in the scent of fresh flowers. He closed his eyes, turning his face to the sun, and leaning back against a column.

The distinct sound of a carriage trained by horses shook Will from his peace. Was it Artemis’? No, they had left it at the inn, and come by foot. So he walked again, and reached the front of the house, to see the carriage being taken away, and Artemis, Hippolytus and Beatrice talking to a man.

The doors opened to reveal Hazel, her gown in her hand, the brightest of smiles on her face, as she called her brother’s name. Not that Will was surprised in the least to see that it was Mr. di Angelo.

Artemis gestured for Will to come closer, and he did, although the ground was spinning under his feet, and there was nothing anchoring him to reality.

Mr. di Angelo let his sister down, as Artemis presented Will as her brother’s son. Mr. di Angelo’s eyebrows shot up, as Hazel greeted Will, squeezing his hands. Mr. di Angelo was wearing a loose-fitting white shirt, that left most of his shoulders and collarbones exposed. Will looked away with a blush.

“It’s been so long,” Hazel told him, as they went back inside, hooking an arm in his and one in her brother’s. “How is your family doing?”

Will nodded, completely transfixed on the patterns on the floor.

“William?” She called him. When he startled, she looked over at her brother.

Mr. di Angelo had an eyebrow raised, as he always had, and seemed very stoic. Will wanted to shake him, and see the man behind the statue, the one that had written him the letter that had kept him awake for several nights.

“I’m sorry, I was distracted,” he said. “Could you repeat, please?”

Hazel chuckled. “I was asking about your family.”

“They are doing fine,” Will said. “My sister Piper has returned to London, and in the next few days Mitchell will return from Brighton. In three days I will return home, too.”

“I’m afraid I may have changed your plans,” Mr. di Angelo said. “I have invited Miss Solace to fish in our lake. You are welcome to join us, of course.”

“Fishing is boring,” Hazel cut in. “I will show William the gardens.”

They stopped in the parlor, where Mr. di Angelo called a servant to bring tea.

“My older sister spoke highly of the Hunters,” Mr. di Angelo told Artemis. “You may know my cousin, Thalia Grace. She works with you, now.”

Artemis nodded. “Of course. She is brilliant. And she left for Meryton, too, didn’t she?”

“She did,” Mr. di Angelo told her. His eyes flickered to Will. “She and Mrs. Jackson are thinking of returning during the Autumn, but I don’t think they will want Mr. Jackson, Mr. Grace nor me, too.”

“You should,” Will said.

Mr. di Angelo blushed, or something close to it.

Will didn’t see Mr. di Angelo the following day, as he had already left the estate to prepare the boat. A butler walked Artemis and Hippolytus to the docks, so that they could reach him.

“When dad was still alive, they used to go fishing together,” Hazel told him. “I never joined them, but sometimes Percy and his father did.”

“Your brother wanted to be a merchant, didn’t he?” Will said, recalling the letter.

Hazel giggled. “He did. How did you know?”

Will blushed, but lied easily. “He told me.”

They laid a blanket to sit on in the grass, opening the basket Hazel had stuffed with food.

“He was a sweetheart when he was little. Your youngest brother is only seven, am I right?”

Will nodded. “He hasn’t presented, but we know he’ll be an Omega. His scent is so sweet. Mr. Caesar knows it, too.”

“He is your father’s heir, isn’t he?”

“Oh, yes. My step-mother is already lost in desperation over it.”

“It must be so hard, knowing your house won’t be yours forever,” she said. “Especially if you still have children as young as your brother Jonathan.”

Will hadn’t thought about it that way. But as he did, for the first time, he wished to never have to feel what Aphrodite had, when she had married his father, only to then realize how frail their stability was.

Being tired, Will had chosen to leave for the inn early. He and Hazel separated at the door, with the newly made promise of writing.

“William.”

Will startled, looking behind himself, where Artemis, Hippolytus and Mr. di Angelo were coming from. Mr. di Angelo didn’t smile, but his shoulders relaxed, and so did his face.

“May I see you to the village?” Mr. di Angelo asked him.

Will’s heart skipped a beat, or maybe more. “No, no! I’m very fond of walking.”

“Yes, I know.” He hesitated for a moment, and opened his mouth as if he were about to say more, but changed his mind the last second. “I know.”

Will nodded, and took a step back. “Goodbye, then.”

Mr. di Angelo nodded without a word, his jaw closed so tightly a muscle jumped. Will’s eyes stayed on him longer than they should have, as his words echoed in his mind, with nothing to stop them.

 _You must allow me to tell you how ardently I admire and love you._ Will couldn’t find it in himself to forgive Mr. di Angelo for the pain he had admitted loving him caused, as though Will were some unlovable creature.

When Will reached the inn, he was surprised to find a letter for himself from his sister Piper. He opened it when he was already in bed. He read it once, then three other times, but it still wasn’t enough to make sense of the words written. Before he knew it, he was crying.

Will’s thoughts went to his family, and when he cried about them enough, his mind went to Mr. di Angelo, and how he would never see him again, as a man of his standing would never mix with one whose Omega brother had run away from home. After all, it seemed that Mitchell had really managed to throw away the good name of the family.

When Will heard the sound of a carriage outside, he quickly moved downstairs, crumbled letter in his hands. Artemis was talking to Hippolytus, and of course Mr. di Angelo was with them, because somehow he had acquired extremely good-manners in the time Will hadn’t seen him.

Artemis talked to him, but Will didn’t hear a word, only trusted the letter in her hands. Hippolytus asked what was happening, and so did Mr. di Angelo’s confused brow, but Will couldn’t bring himself to talk, he wasn’t even sure he still had a voice.

“Oh, dear goodness,” she said, her arm going around Will’s waist. She bared her neck, and Will didn’t have to think twice before letting the scent envelope him. “There’s been a problem with one of his siblings.”

Will turned to Mr. di Angelo. He would have felt like a liar and a hypocrite to keep it, when he had been told so much about the other’s life. “Mitchell ran away with Lawrence.”

Mr. di Angelo paled, taking a step closer and raising his hands, dropping them again when he realized he didn’t know where to put them. He looked so utterly lost in that conflict, Will would have laughed.

Shame curled in Will’s chest. He wished Mr. di Angelo hadn’t come, so Will’s last memory of him would have been that of him in the gardens in front of Pemberley, with the sun shining on him, when, with only one step, Will would have reached him. Now he felt far, far away.

“Tomorrow you will bring Will home,” Artemis told Hippolytus. “I’ll reach my brother in London, see what we can do.”

Sometime later, when he was in bed about to fall asleep, Will realized that he didn’t remember going upstairs, nor bidding Mr. di Angelo goodbye. He almost wished he did.

As expected of her, Mrs. Solace was utterly heartbroken. She cried and cried. Her son was lost forever, and her late-husband would never forgive her. Jonathan didn’t understand what was happening, and Piper and Will tried to keep him and the others out of the house as much as they could. However, they could only find a resemblance of peace when they were together under the furs, a pile of limbs and familiar scents.

Some days later, Apollo returned. Jonathan jumped in his arms as soon as he got out of the carriage, and their father scented him thoroughly. He took Piper in his arms, too. Will watched from the door, too afraid to walk out.

“You didn’t find them,” Will stated.

Apollo let go of Piper, but he kept Jonathan close. As he opened the mouth to reply, the door opened behind Will, revealing Austin.

“So?” He asked. “Where is Mitchell?”

“Let’s go inside,” Apollo said, rubbing his eyes, under which dark circles aged his face. 

Will exchanged a look with Piper. Apollo would have already talked if there had been good news. They went upstairs, and Mrs. Solace wailed again when she saw her husband, only stopping when he sat beside her on the bed, caressing her neck.

“We almost found them,” he said. Will’s heart stopped. “They rented an apartment in the outskirts of London, but when we arrived they had already left.”

“What did he want from Mitchell?” Lacy asked. “Why couldn’t he wait to marry him properly?”

Will sighed, moving closer to his sister and putting his arms around her from behind. Truth be told, he didn’t know either. Mr. Lawrence had known that they weren’t rich, Mitchell didn’t have Hazel’s dowry. With them, he wouldn’t find much. If he married Mitchell at all, that would be the real surprise.

“He’s lost,” Mrs. Solace said. She hid under the furs, wailing loudly. “My boy, my poor boy.”

For almost another week, the house mourned Mitchell (and also their good name).

“I can’t believe he escaped,” muttered Lacy several times, leaning with her shoulder against the corridor as Will was passing.

Will, knowing well that she didn’t even know she was talking out loud, walked past her. Drew caught his forearm, dragging him in the parlor with her, where she was just waiting for another victim.

“If we say that he died–” she started in a low tone.

“No,” Will said firmly.

“–as if you haven’t thought about that, too.”

Will sighed. “I really haven’t, and you should stop.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“As you didn’t the first thirty times I told you.”

Drew rolled her eyes, hissing something under her breath, probably a plot against Will’s life. Calling every last bit of patience he still had, Will maintained his calm, and quietly walked away, only to be too quiet, and cause Austin to not hear him, and run into him.

“Are you a ghost or something?” Austin asked, rubbing his head. “I didn’t even hear you.”

Just a day or two prior, Piper had asked Will why he had been so silent lately, also stating he didn’t look much like himself. Not to give her any more heartbreak, Will used Mitchell’s situation as an excuse for his perturbation. And he was thinking of a man, it just wasn’t Mitchell, nor Mr. Lawrence. He thought that he wanted to know more about Mr. di Angelo, and dance with him again, in a situation that he could enjoy, unlike the first time. He also thought about Hazel, and how their friendship had already come to an end.

“What were you even running for?” Will asked, helping Austin up.

Austin lightened, clapping his hands. “Post!” He exclaimed, grabbing Will’s hand. “From aunt Artemis.” Austin didn’t let go of him, running to the garden, where Mr. Solace was, standing alone under the sun.

A window opened from above as he read, for Mrs. Solace stuck her head out.

“What were you two running for?” She shouted. “No running in the house!”

“We are in the garden!” Austin responded.

Will scuffed his brother in the head. “There’s a letter from aunt Artemis!”

Mrs. Solace shrieked, calling the other children to the garden. As she disappeared from the window, Austin turned to remember her not to run in the house with a loud shout.

The door opened, Kayla and Piper falling to the ground, Lacy stopping just before she walked on them, as Drew snickered out loud, nudging Piper’s foot with her own. Mrs. Solace didn’t notice them, and stumbled on Kayla’s legs.

“Dear,” she said, putting her hands on her hips. “What are you doing on the ground when we may finally know of your brother’s future?”

“And ours!” Drew said. “We are one step from falling into utter disgrace, remember?”

Mr. Solace laughed, loud and clear. “Oh, dear.” Attention shifted back to him, as he shook his head. The shadows that had been on his face for days finally left, leaving him in a state of utter delight. “They will marry, if I pay him £132 every year.”

“That’s so little,” Piper said, smoothing her gowns, as Mrs. Solace clapped in absolute delight.

“Your aunt must have paid him something already,” Mr. Solace said. “I doubt he would have married your brother, had it been otherwise.”

Mrs. Solace gasped. “Why would you say something so unromantic? If they ran away together, they must love each other! Mitchell is beautiful and charming, who wouldn’t want to marry him?”

“Does she know the same Mitchell as I do?” Drew asked Will.

“Drew,” Piper hissed.

“There’s no need to say the things we are already thinking out loud, dear,” Mr. Solace reprimanded her. “If you’ll excuse me, I must write back immediately. Unless my dearest wife thinks there’s no need to reassure him with our money, and that I should just let them be. After all, they _love_ each other.”

The carriage stopped in front of Longbourn House. Mitchell acted as the star of a parade, waving at them delightfully. Jonathan was the only one who waved back.

“I can’t believe he did this to us,” Austin whispered, his lips tugged downwards. “He would have thrown us all in the dirt to have – have fun with that man.”

Lacy’s hand reached for his, her hold so tight his knuckles turned white. He didn’t seem to mind, only dropping his head on her shoulder, as uncomfortable as it was, since he was much taller than her.

“We only need to get through today,” Will said. “Then we can forget all about this.”

“Mitchell is married,” Kayla said. “We can’t forget. He’s – he’s lost, mother was right.”

“He was lost long before this,” Piper cut in. “He was lost when all he did was flirting with officers and spend his time idly lazing around.”

The matter was dropped, as their parents were done talking to the spouses, and it was their turn to greet them.

Mitchell showed them his ring several times, and uncovered his neck for them to see Mr. Lawrence’s bites. Each time, Will nodded, smiling tightly, acting like his heart wasn’t breaking, and shivers weren’t running down his spine, despite the temperature. If his siblings’ expressions were anything to go by, he wasn’t alone in the act.

The one who felt more at fault was Piper. She wasn’t only the oldest of the family, but also Mitchell’s oldest by blood. Whereas Kayla and Austin still tended to turn to Will first for counsel, the McLeans went to Piper first.

Mr. Lawrence remained inside with their parents, while Mitchell joined the siblings in the garden. Even in his mind, Will had already started referring to him as _Mitchell_ instead of _brother_ , his instincts recognizing the change in his scent. He was Mitchell, but he wasn’t _Will’s_ Mitchell. Separation hit wolves hard, even if packs weren’t formally stated, hadn’t been since before medieval times.

Lacy sat on the swing, Kayla cuddling beside her.

“You will want to avoid doing that, if you want to look adult enough for a husband,” Mitchell said.

Piper opened his mouth to reply, and so did Will, ready to cut Mitchell off before the youngers stared believing him, but Austin did it first.

“I don’t even want to know the things you did to get that husband,” he said.

Something like hurt flashed in Mitchell’s eyes, but it was quickly replaced with anger. “I won’t tell you anything, as you are, and will always be, my younger and jealous brother.”

Austin slumped against the tree, shaking his head, and looking utterly defeated.

“You should have come up for my wedding,” Mitchell said. “It would have been even funnier with all of you there. I’m the third oldest, and the first to marry.”

Drew outright scoffed, and Will pinched her side. Whatever had happened, they couldn’t change it, even if they cursed Mitchell out. Drew was being courted by Lou Ellen, Lacy was ‘secretly’ talking to Artemis about joining the Hunters, Austin had dreams of touring with his music, and Kayla sometimes was keen on joining him. Who knew when they would all be together again!

“Mr. di Angelo said we didn’t have time to bring you all up there,” Mitchell continued, and then covered his mouth, as though it could put the words back in.

Will startled. “Mr. di Angelo?” He asked.

His siblings probably did the same, but the world around him was spinning, and he was numb to everything, except for Mitchell’s next words.

“He was there. He is friends with Bryce, he told me. He’s the last person before Bryce talked to before proposing to me. I swore to secrecy, though. For some reason, he didn’t want anyone to know he was there.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank u for reading <3


	3. 3

PART THREE

There is joy in Autumn. As the trees leave their colorful shades, changing into gentler and melancholic colors, people wait. No one waits for Autumn, as Autumn herself is the wait. Autumn is gentle when she waits for Winter to begin with the first snows.

So, it was no wonder at all, that the habitants of Longbourn House waited. For what, they didn’t know yet.

Will sat on the windowsill, the glass cold against his skin, as he waited.

Mitchell had sent a letter that very morning, and every time that happened, it was a squeeze to Will’s heart. With his letter, flowers had been delivered for Drew from her Lou Ellen. It had given Mrs. Solace something to brag about, as she had always known that Lou Ellen would ultimately choose Drew over anyone else. When Kayla asked her why she had been saying the same thing about her choosing Will over anyone else, Mrs. Solace quickly shushed her.

There was a buzzing underneath Will’s skin. It was as if he had been surrounded by tension for a long time, and it was finally about to snap.

Piper’s voice snapped Will out of his trance. He startled, his head hit the glass with a resonating _thud_. She giggled, sitting beside him, a rose in her hands. She asked him when he thought _they_ would finally get married.

“I wouldn’t know,” he said. “Lou Ellen hasn’t told me anything yet.”

Piper raised the rose to Will’s face, waiting for him to take a whiff, and make an appreciative hum, before letting her hand fall limply in her lap. She spoke softly. “You should ask her.”

Not many flowers stayed during the Autumn. Something had blossomed in Will’s chest, which he hadn’t let himself acknowledge, in fear of what it might grow into if he did.

In the courtyard, Jonathan jumped on a pile of leaves. When they fell around him as snowflakes soon would have, his laugh reached Will and Piper.

 _Longing_ , Will finally recognized. It was longing, with its deep roots buried as deep as daggers in his chest, and his wounds were bleeding. Scars hadn’t closed them yet. He longed for the man he had almost known, and fiercely despised.

“I’ll go see my plants,” Will said, standing up.

Piper nodded wordlessly, her eyes far, far away.

Will’s fingers were covered by a layer of dirt when Lacy arrived running, bending on her knees to breathe in deeply. He waited for her to say anything, not too scared since it wasn’t so rare for him to be interrupted during gardening, when Kayla appeared behind her, only to shove her from the doorframe.

“Mr. Grace,” Kayla said, between a heavy pant and the other. “He’s here.”

“He’s back in Netherfield?” Will asked, pushing his curls behind his ears, thinking of all the implications. Mrs. Solace hadn’t managed to cut his hair yet, so they reached his shoulders, but they weren’t long enough to be put in a ponytail yet.

“He’s _here_ ,” Lacy said, hissing the last word. “But mother isn’t home, father is locked in his study, Piper… I didn’t want to get her. He’s, he’s–”

“Pacing in front of our gate,” Kayla finished for her. “What do we do?”

Will took a cloth, cleaning his hands, nervously pushing his hair back again. He walked past his siblings back in the house, they followed him carelessly.

“You two go tell Piper, and I get father,” Will decided. “If she doesn’t want to see him, she can say so.”

Mr. Grace wasn’t alone. When Will opened the front-door for his father to stumble out – he was having problems with his left leg – he noticed the other figure next to Mr. Grace. As if to mock him, the wind picked up. The enticing scent hit his face like a slap.

Will snapped his eyes from Mr. di Angelo’s, breath caught in his throat, as Mr. Grace’s pacing came to an end. He inhaled sharply.

“Mr. Solace,” he said, his voice firmer than he looked. His fists were tightened by his sides, and he looked like he was about to bolt.

“Mr. Grace,” Mr. Solace responded. He looked over at Mr. di Angelo, who was still sitting on the wooden rail of the field, but jumped up as though someone had shot him. “Mr. di Angelo.”

“Mr. Solace,” they both responded, even Mr. Grace, who had greeted him already, and later looked at Mr. di Angelo as if it was the other’s fault.

Will stole a glance at the house. All of his siblings were at the windows of the parlor, Drew with her arms crossed on her chest, Piper’s hand on her shoulder appeared to be the only thing stopping her from going outside, and drag Mr. Grace back to Netherfield by his ear.

“I see you are both having a relaxing walk,” Mr. Solace continued, sounding utterly amused. He put his arm on Will’s shoulder, rocking on his heels. “Of course, we wouldn’t want to keep you from chasing your interior peace.”

“Actually–” Mr. Grace started, only to leave the question hanging. The silence quickly turned awkward.

Mr. di Angelo cleared his throat. “We hope you and your family are doing well, Mr. Solace.”

Mr. Solace smiled. “My wife currently isn’t home, so we are enjoying some rest, yes. Until my children decided that you two indecisive pilgrims were reason enough to force me down the stairs, of course.”

Heat rose to Will’s cheeks. “How is your sister, Mr. di Angelo?”

“She’s doing fine,” Mr. di Angelo said, his lips almost curling upwards. His shoulders relaxed, and if he closed his eyes, Will was sure he would have felt the warm breeze from Pemberley kissing his face. “She is in Netherfield now, actually. With Mr. and Mrs. Jackson, and also another two friends of theirs. She should return home after the Winter.”

“They are your friends, too,” Mr. Grace reprimanded him.

“Will you not stay with her?” Will asked. _Will I not see you again?_

“I’m leaving for London tomorrow,” Mr. di Angelo said.

Will nodded wordlessly, feeling ash sit on his tongue. His father squeezed his shoulder, and Will remembered that he wasn’t wearing scent-blockers. He tried to think about happy things, but his scent seemed keen on remaining as sour as it could.

It wasn’t long before Mr. Solace excused himself and Will, and they returned inside. As he closed the door, Will caught Mr. di Angelo looking at him, with such anguish in his eyes that his world stilled.

But the door was close, and Drew’s angry words reached him from the parlor.

Mrs. Solace was home when it happened again. They were just retelling her the events of the day for the fourth time, sprawled on every available surface in the parlor, Will and Kayla snuggled close under the furs taken from their bed, when a servant knocked on the door, announcing visitors.

In a panicked haste, Will and Kayla threw the furs away, then he picked them back up and smoothed them on the sofa. Piper took a book, acting as though she had been reading for all that time. Austin didn’t move from the piano, were he was scribbling something on a music sheet. Mrs. Solace fixed Lacy’s hair, as much as she could.

They all fell into position, only to look up surprised when the door opened, and Mr. Solace strolled in, with three people behind himself. Will’s smile widened when Hazel’s eyes met his. After the formal greetings were done, they sat in silence, as the servant poured them hot tea.

“It’s nice to finally meet you,” Hazel said. “William always talks about you highly in his letters.”

Piper’s eyes flickered to Will. He hadn’t told her yet the truth about his Summer, nor thought about it.

“I’m surprised to see you in Meryton,” Will replied. “You didn’t say you would come.”

“Annabeth and Thalia told me they would come, and that Jason and Nico were both too embarrassed to add themselves to the party,” she said easily, making Mr. Grace choke on his tea. The tips of Mr. di Angelo’s ears turned red, as he helped his friend. “So, of course, I thought it would be fun.”

“Did they tell you of what they did just a few hours ago?” Will asked her, a grin tugging his lips upwards.

Hazel nodded, covering her mouth with her hands. “But they are strong, scary _Alphas_.”

Will hid his own smile behind his cup of tea.

“You have only come to force Nico to buy you a house here,” Mr. Grace said, a smile on his lips, too, fondness on every inch of his skin.

“ _Yes_ , so I can come more often,” Hazel replied.

“Why did I not know of this?” Mr. di Angelo asked, eyebrow raised, looking so lost Will wanted to comfort him. “Do you really want a house?”

Hazel waved her hand. “That is not the point right now.” She looked at Mr. Solace, who was reading Austin’s music sheets over his son’s shoulder.

“You are really pretty,” Jonathan told her, looking at her with wide eyes.

It seemed to give Mr. Grace strength, as he left his cup aside, smoothing inexistent wrinkles from his pants. “May I talk to your daughter alone, Mr. Solace?”

Mr. Solace smiled, looking at Piper, question clear in his face. She nodded, exhaling sharply. Mrs. Solace looked between them with wide eyes, holding her breath. Mr. Grace offered Piper his hand, but she stood on her own, and it fell to his side, as if drained of all life and reason. They went to the garden, and for a long time, neither of them said anything.

Everyone watched quietly from the windows of the parlor. When Mr. Grace started talking, Piper shook her head, looking away. She held up her hand, and he stumbled back, as though she’d hit him.

Will moved to the other window, where Mr. di Angelo and Hazel were watching their cousin, silently cheering for him. Will leaned closer to Mr. di Angelo, to talk to him under his breath, and also relish in his scent until it was allowed.

“Is he proposing?”

Mr. di Angelo took a deep breath, his eyes turned darker for a moment. He replied in the same tone. “He is.” He stayed silent for a moment. “What will her answer be, you think?”

Will thought about it, but at the end of the day, he didn’t know. It seemed eons ago, that he and Piper had thrown the blanket over their heads, and spoken quietly amongst themselves. “I wouldn’t know.” His heart broke a bit. “We have grown apart lately.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

Will steered the conversation in another direction, one safer for him. “What convinced Mr. Grace to propose?”

Mr. di Angelo looked down at his hands, tapping his fingertips against the glass of the window. “I told him that I was wrong. He organized his return to Netherfield.”

Will was silent for a long moment, and when he finally talked, his voice softer than he wanted it to be. “Thank you. For everything.”

Mr. di Angelo tilted his head, understanding only when his eyes met Will’s reflection in the window. “I didn’t want you to know.”

“I know, but Mitchell still told me.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to apologize for.”

“I keep forcing myself in your life, and I shouldn’t. You made it clear, that you didn’t wish for me to do so.” His hand closed in a shaking fist, and Will wanted to reach out and hold him, but he couldn’t, and no word came to his mouth. Mr. di Angelo took a step back. “I’ll take my leave.”

It seemed an eternity later that Piper took Mr. Grace’s hand in her own, talking as she looked earnestly in his eyes.

“I told him that I wouldn’t marry him now,” Piper would later tell them. “And that he should court me first.”

In the morning, Will wandered alone through the fields. The morning fog was lifting, creating a tense scene. Longing blossomed stronger than ever in his chest, and each breath he took, a familiar scent clogged his mind. However, each time he turned as if commanded from the wind, he was alone.

Alone, and he waited for something he didn’t recognize.

The next ball was hosted in Netherfield. The people who had laughed behind Piper’s back after Jason left Meryton, could only smile politely, and congratulate them on the courtship. A courtship was followed by both a mating and a wedding ceremony, while an engagement only brought to a wedding. Will had always thought that he would have both, and he was happy for Piper. He really was.

As happy for her as he was miserable for himself.

Mrs. Solace’s habit of throwing the Alphas and Betas around the room at her children came back in full force. She usually only did with the four oldest, but since Mitchell was married and living far away, Drew danced all night with Lou Ellen, and Piper was being courted, Will was left as the only victim. After the fourth dance she forced him to do, he saw her with her hands clasped around a man’s arm, her head turning from one direction to the other, eyes narrowed.

A hand landed on Will’s shoulder, squeezing lightly.

“I’ll cover for you,” Mr. Solace told him quietly.

Will quickly escaped. He was on the patio outside when Piper found him.

“Are you all right?” She asked concerned, sitting beside him.

“I am,” he said. There was a moment of silence, during which the weight of his lie laid heavy on his heart. He shook his head, finally giving in, and turning to lock eyes with his sister. “When I saw him in April, Mr. di Angelo asked me to marry him.”

Piper took a sharp intake of breath, covering her mouth with her hands. “Oh, God. And what did you say?”

Will blinked, raising his hand. No ring was on his finger.

Piper shook her head, letting her hands fall limp. She sat beside Will, folding her leg under herself. “Are you regretting your answer?” When Will didn’t respond, her hand found his, and squeezed it tiredly. “For months, you have seemed so tired. I’ve been wondering why, especially after I wasn’t so lost in my heartbreak so much.”

“I regret it, but not as you think,” Will revealed. “I regret the way I acted on it, how I treated him when he asked.”

“Jason – Mr. Grace – told me why he left.” Her voice turned softer, and she shook her head. “I have talked to Mr. di Angelo. I wrote him a letter, and I explained why I don’t hate him for it. Mr. Grace doesn’t know, but when we talked about it, he said he couldn’t bring himself to be angry at Mr. di Angelo.”

“I’m not angry about it anymore,” Will said. “I was at first.”

“I was angry at you for not telling me in the Spring, after you were told.”

Will’s throat turned dry. “Sorry.”

“It doesn’t matter anymore. We are here now, and we are happy. I wish you and Mr. di Angelo were, too.”

“I’m not unhappy,” Will protested. “Not entirely, I think.”

“Do you wish he hadn’t left?”

 _Yes_. “I’m not in love with him, but I wish I knew him better. He just...” Will shook his head, closing his hands in fists, as though it would help him collect the words he needed. “He seems so interesting.”

Piper’s eyes softened, as they did when Jonathan did something particularly sweet. Will didn’t know how to decipher her gaze, and her next words didn’t help him. “You should tell him that.”

It was March already when Hazel knocked on the door of Longbourn House, with a frown so deep it was almost unnatural. Mr. Valdez, whom Will had gotten to know during the many dinners at Netherfield, looked absolutely delighted behind her.

“You have no idea how angry I am, William,” Hazel said, sitting in the parlor. “My brother is a dead man. Dead.”

The room seemed to spin around Will. “What.”

“Not literally, of course,” she said, waving her hand in dismissal.

Hazel sat on the sofa in the parlor, gesturing for Will to do the same, despite her being in his home. Austin, sitting behind the piano on the bench, snickered out loud.

“But when I am done with him, he might as well be,” she continued. “Do you have any idea what he got up to during the Winter, only letting me know now?”

“I can’t say I do,” Will replied.

Mr. Valdez laughed. “You are about to be really _shocked_ , my friend.”

“Oh, what happened?” Austin asked, leaving his sheets on the piano, and dragging Will to sit with him at the other sofa. “Don’t keep us waiting.”

 _Don’t be rude_ , Will almost said, but Hazel’s response left him speechless.

“He went to Italy!” She exclaimed, throwing her hands in the air. “ _Italy_. How can that be even remotely possible?”

“Italy,” Will muttered. He shook his head, wishing for something to steady him. “What would he do there?”

“He has Italian roots,” she said, which Will already knew from his visit at Pemberley. “He just dropped me off here, like some kind of unwanted package, and then went to Italy. Can you believe it? I hope for him, he at least got me some wonderful gift.”

“Ah, yes, the most important thing,” Mr. Valdez said, nodding resolutely. “Gifts.”

“Oh, like you weren’t just saying you want one, too!” Hazel said. She crossed her arms on the chest. “He should have told me.”

“Why didn’t he?” Will asked her, finally finding his voice back.

“He’s like that, sometimes,” Hazel admitted.

“He needs some time alone, every once in a while,” Mr. Valdez added. “And instead of simply telling us that, he finds it easier to disappear.”

“I may even admit that I’m not all that angry,” Hazel said, after a pregnant silence. “I’m just a bit indisposed.”

“Worried,” Mr. Valdez said. “You are worried about your brother, who is an idiot and goes to Italy during the Winter.”

“Exactly!” She said. “And I will nag him so, so hard. He won’t even know what hit him.”

“Is he coming here?” Will asked, hating the hope blossoming in his chest.

“He’ll be here in three days,” Hazel said. “He will stay until April.”

Mr. di Angelo looked every bit as beautiful as he did in the Autumn. His hair was slightly longer, brushing against his shoulders, and when the wind hit him, he brushed it back from his face. Mr. Grace and Mr. Jackson were with him, simply walking in the fields, on the other side of the river from Will and Lou Ellen.

“How fancy to see you here,” Mr. Jackson said loudly, waving his hand at them, as Lou Ellen burrowed closer to Will’s side.

“Likewise,” Lou Ellen said, using the same tone. “Your sister has been announcing your return for days, Mr. di Angelo.”

Mr. di Angelo brushed his hair back from his face again. “It’s good to be back.”

“How long will you stay?” Will asked.

Mr. di Angelo’s eyes locked with his. The wind picked up again, and his scent hit Will like a wall thrown in his face. “Until Hazel leaves,” he said.

 _Cedar wood._ His scent was cedar wood.

“We will hold a ball at Netherfield in three days’ time,” Mr. Grace said. “You should come. Bring the invite along to your family, William.”

Will smiled, nodding and thanking them, but he knew he wouldn’t go. In three days time, he wouldn’t be in Meryton. He looked back at Mr. di Angelo as Lou Ellen dragged him away. Thinking of how horrible their timing truly was, Will smiled sadly.

It was during Piper and Mr. Grace’s wedding ceremony that Will met with Mr. di Angelo again. Although it was usual for the reception to be held at the Omega’s – or Beta’s – house, they decided to hold it in Netherfield. The ceremony itself wasn’t too long, with Mr. Valdez as Mr. Grace’s best man, and Kayla sniffling quietly every few minutes.

In Netherfield, Will was swept over from the many guests. He barely had time to bid Piper one last goodbye before she was on the carriage, ready to leave for the honeymoon.

Jonathan was raised by Mr. di Angelo by the waist, so that he could reach the carriage window, and kiss Piper’s cheek. After Mr. di Angelo put him down, Jonathan grabbed his wrist. Will almost laughed out loud at the desperately awkward expression on Mr. di Angelo’s face.

“Lacy, be kind,” Mr. Solace said, after the carriage had passed through the gates. “Go and get your brother.”

“No!” Will exclaimed, startling them both. He blushed, but smiled. “I’ll get him.”

Before they could stop him, he quickly walked away, leaving their confused expressions behind. He was lucky Piper was already gone, or she would have laughed at him, just like Drew was doing.

Energy buzzed underneath his skin, setting him alive when his eyes met Mr. di Angelo’s. Jonathan wrapped his fingers around Will’s wrist, his head falling against his abdomen.

“’m tired,” Jonathan mumbled.

“Don’t be rude,” Will reprimanded him, but even he couldn’t resist Jonathan’s big eyes, and with a sigh, he took the boy in his arms. “You are getting too heavy, mister,” Will said quietly.

“You should stay,” Mr. di Angelo said. Red spread over his cheeks, and he cleared his throat, looking down at the ground. “The night, I mean. You should stay the night, William. Your family, too. It’s quite late to go back to Longbourn House.”

Will smiled, despite himself. “I believe you said one shouldn’t invite others to a friend’s house, without said friend’s permission, Mr. di Angelo.”

A smile tugged Mr. di Angelo’s lips upwards, and he finally took his eyes off the ground. “I did say that, didn’t I?” His fingers flexed, as though he wanted to reach out to something, but stopped himself at the last moment.

A hand fell on Will’s forearm, as Austin’s scent reached Will’s nostrils. He had been completely lost in the cedar wood.

“We should go,” Austin said, eyeing Mr. di Angelo warily. Then, his gaze turned softer, almost amused. “You should come for tea with us tomorrow, Mr. di Angelo.”

Will whipped his head so fast he got whiplash, and Jonathan rumbled quietly against his chest, tightening his fists on Will’s clothes.

“I would like to come with you,” Mr. di Angelo said, a strange expression falling on his face. “But tomorrow morning I leave for Pemberley.”

Will’s stomach sank, and he refused to look further into it than he should. He thought of all the months he had spent without knowing of Mr. di Angelo’s life, feeling as though a limb had been cut from him, only having little bits from Hazel.

“Your sister said you would stay until April,” Will said softly.

“My stepmother is feeling unwell,” Mr. di Angelo said. “I will stay with her as she recovers.”

“Write me.” The words rushed out of Will’s mouth, and when he realized how that sounded – and he did so by looking at Mr. di Angelo’s expression, the confusion it morphed into. Will blushed to the tip of his toe. “When she is feeling better, I mean. I wish her a fast recovery.”

“Thank you,” Mr. di Angelo said, his voice so low Will wasn’t sure he heard right.

Austin’s arm wrapped around Will’s waist again, guiding him through the crowd to get back to their parents, waiting only for them. Even when he was on the carriage, Will felt Mr. di Angelo’s gaze heavy on his back.

The letters came on a Wednesday. One was from Piper, and she had written about her honeymoon and Mr. Grace.

“She didn’t say anything about whether they have made love,” Mrs. Solace said. “This is terrible. I want grandchildren. Alphas, this time around.”

Will rolled his eyes. The second letter was addressed to him personally. Mr. di Angelo’s scent clanged faintly to it.

“Who is it from?” Lacy asked, and soon the room’s whole attention was to him.

Will put the envelope in his pockets. “No one.”

Mrs. Solace perked up. “William? William do you have a suitor? Do not give me false hope, you little–”

Will blushed to the tip of his ear. “I do _not_ have a suitor.” Then he thought of Mr. di Angelo’s eyes as he confessed, the rain clinging to his clothes, how desperate he was. And how ashamed of his love he was. All of a sudden, Will wished he hadn’t asked Mr. di Angelo to write him.

“Who cares,” Drew said, her words followed by a loud groan.

“We should all care about Drew’s _friend_ ,” Will said, plastering a smile on his face. “The one she meets at night, you know?”

Drew’s eyes turned into daggers, as Mrs. Solace started shooting questions at an alarming rate.

It was Summer when Will and Mr. di Angelo saw each other again. Will’s aunt wrote him about another trip to Pemberley, and he accepted gratefully.

“You have got to be kidding me,” Drew hissed, as soon as they were alone in the parlor. “You only want to go there because you know _he_ ’ll be there.”

“I don’t _know_ whether he’ll be there,” Will said defensively, crossing his arms on his chest and leaning back in his seat. It was a complete lie, not only had it been Mr. di Angelo to personally invite Artemis to visit him again – although he hadn’t specifically asked for Will to come, too – but Hazel had also said, in a letter to Will, that her brother planned on spending the whole Summer in Pemberley. “If he is, then good for him.”

“Of course you don’t,” Drew replied, smoothing her gown. “Like I don’t know whether Lou Ellen will be near the river tonight. I’ll just go there, and if that is where she is, then good for her.”

“Perfect, then,” Will said.

“More than perfect.”

“The most perfect of perfect things.”

So, since Will knew from the very beginning that Mr. di Angelo would be there, he shouldn’t have been surprised to enter Pemberley Manor and be greeted by him. However, it was a nice surprise to meet with Miss Ramirez-Arellano again, and Mr. Valdez, too.

“It’s nice to see you again,” Mr. Valdez told Will quietly, as they walked to the gardens.

The weather was nice, a light breeze still held the faintest smell of the previous day’s rain.

“It’s nice to see you, too,” Will said, in the same tone, although he didn’t know why they were being almost secretive. He had to lean down a bit to speak with Mr. Valdez, who was on the shorter side for an Alpha, just as Will was on the taller side for an Omega.

“Nico has been moping around since the last time he saw you,” Mr. Valdez continued, delight brightening his features. “Not to be a gossip, but I was wondering why that is.”

Heat rose to Will’s cheeks. “I wouldn’t know,” he said.

“Wouldn’t you?” Mr. Valdez hummed, stopping in his path to brush his fingertips on the petals of a rose. “He has been avoiding you. Did you know he was in Meryton at the beginning of the Summer?”

Will blinked, hoping the disappointment in his scent would be covered by the smell of the flowers. “No. I didn’t know.”

“I found it strange,” Mr. Valdez continued. “Considering how close you are with Hazel, that Nico would go lengths to avoid you.”

Will stuck his tongue in his cheek. “Well, I am not in his mind, so I wouldn’t know what goes on there. And isn’t it strange, considering how close you are with him, that you are asking me instead of him, Mr. Valdez?”

It was scandalous, what Will did that very night. They were staying at Pemberley as guests, and they had been shown where Mr. di Angelo’s study was. A bit too far from their rooms for Will’s visit to be only a chance, so Mr. di Angelo would surely know that Will was looking for him. Hazel had complained many times about Mr. di Angelo’s long hours in his study, as he sometimes stayed there until the sun had gone up.

Will knocked on the door twice. Mr. di Angelo’s scent was fresh in the air, almost overwhelmingly so.

The door opened, revealing Mr. di Angelo’s surprise when his eyes landed on Will. For a moment, they only stared at each other, Mr. di Angelo opening and closing his mouth without saying anything. Will would have laughed, if not for the way it made his heart beat faster.

“Can I come in?” Will finally asked, at the same time as Mr. di Angelo found words, and said, “Are you lost, William?”

Will chuckled quietly. “No, I’m not.”

“Oh.” Mr. di Angelo moved to the side, letting Will pass.

They sat on the armchairs in front of the fireplace, leaving the papers and the open books on the table at the other end of the room. Mr. di Angelo was still wearing his formal clothes, but Will only had his blouse and pants.

“You make it very hard to be your friend,” Will said, breaking the silence. Mr. di Angelo looked up, seeming almost startled, his mouth not quite close. “You avoided me.”

Mr. di Angelo turned red. “I did not.”

Will cocked an eyebrow, sighing. “Yes, you did. I told you I would have liked to be your friend, and today you haven’t even looked at me.” Pushing past the voices in his head telling him to shut up, Will took a deep breath, and continued. “And what you said in – in Meryton, I believe. You said I didn’t want you to be in your life, and you were imposing. It’s not true.”

“How isn’t it?” Mr. di Angelo asked, furrowing his eyebrows. He dropped his hands in his lap, twisting the ring on his middle finger. “You told me yourself.”

“I told you I didn’t want to marry you,” Will replied, the words leaving ash on his tongue, legacy of his burning anger for Mr. di Angelo’s proposal. If possible, he blushed even more. “Which was before I knew the truth about you.”

Mr. di Angelo’s scent spiked. “The truth.”

“The truth. That you are not the heartless man I thought you were. You – I – what I mean is that I would like to have that man into my life. You are far kinder than anyone I know, Mr. di Angelo.”

The room fell into a pregnant pause. Will was sure that if it hadn’t been for the birds singing outside, he would have heard Mr. di Angelo’s beating heart.

“You must have met many terrible people, if that is your true opinion.”

“Or maybe you are more of a remarkable man than you think,” Will said. His boldness was repaid by the deep blush on Mr. di Angelo’s cheeks. Will’s heart stuttered. He leaned forward, without even realizing. “Hazel tells me she misses Meryton. Do you, Mr. di Angelo?”

Something twisted on Mr. di Angelo’s face, such strong emotions Will couldn’t grasp most of them, melting into one another like snow under the sun.

“Hazel knows she can come back to Meryton anytime she wants to,” Mr. di Angelo finally said, furrowing his eyebrows.

“So can you.” Will shrugged, ignoring the way his heart was twisting on itself. Had there been a staring contest between the two of them, Will would have been the loser, for he looked away first. “Unless you don’t want to.”

“I have duties,” Mr. di Angelo said, his words careful and measured. “I can’t always freely enjoy myself in the countryside, as much as that is my desire.”

The corner of Will’s mouth twisted upwards. “I wish you had been able to be a pirate.”

Mr. di Angelo chuckled, the corner of his eyes crinkling. “So do I.” They shared a long look, matching secretive smiles lightening their expressions. “We shouldn’t be alone so late at night, William.”

“I wouldn’t have come if you hadn’t avoided me all day, and don’t try to deny it again.”

“And would you come again tomorrow if I avoided you then, too?”

Shivers ran down Will’s spine. “I’m not a doll to play with, Mr. di Angelo. If you avoid me again, I will come with much less gentle words. I thought you would have known better than to get on my bad side again.”

“Of course I do,” Mr. di Angelo said, as though Will’s words had truly wounded his pride.

Will smiled. “Good, then. Now is the time you ask me about my family, Mr. di Angelo.”

Mr. di Angelo’s mouth curled upwards. “How is your family, William?”

“They are doing good, thank you.” Will crossed his legs, relaxing in his seat. “Do you plan on visiting Rosings Park?”

“Not really, but Hazel has received an invitation, and Lady Demeter won’t accept no for an answer.” He grimaced, tapping his fingertips on his knee. “I pity my sister for not having as many duties as I do, when Lady Demeter writes.”

Will smiled. “So you use your duties as an excuse to not visit your grandmother?”

“She is not my grandmother. She is my stepmother’s mother, so step-grandmother would be a better term, I believe. It would have been different if we had cultivated a good relationship, but she has never accepted my father’s marriage to her daughter, and I never accepted her meddling in my private life.”

“And you can’t forgive each other?”

“My good opinion once lost is lost forever.”

“That sounds dangerously prideful.”

Mr. di Angelo blinked, tilting his head to the side. “Maybe it is. What about you, William? Do you have living grandparents?”

“My father’s mother is alive, she lives in London with my aunt Artemis. When my aunt moved from Meryton as a single Omega, my grandmother went with her in the hopes of finding her a spouse. I last saw her when Jonathan was born, and we never exchanged a correspondence. My grandparents on my mother’s side died when I was little, so I don’t have many memories of them.” Will snorted lightly, crossing his arms on the chest to keep himself warm. “They were far more interested in my brothers, though.”

“Austin and Mitchell?” Mr. di Angelo said, and it was then that Will realized his earlier words.

It was late in the night, it was a slip of the tongue, believing that just because he had lived in a place where everyone knew of his brothers, then Mr. di Angelo would, too.

Will thought about lying, if only briefly. He could have nodded, smoothly changed the subject. Then Mr. di Angelo’s overwhelmingly honest letter came to his mind. How could Will just lie to him? And maybe, if he were honest, he would have admitted to having a part of himself that wanted to show Mr. di Angelo his secrets, and be known for who he really was. He wanted to show Mr. di Angelo every dark corner of his soul, and see whether he would run or stay.

“My older brothers,” Will said, his voice coming soft and quiet. “Lee and Michael. They were both Alphas.”

“I can’t imagine losing both my siblings,” Mr. di Angelo said. “It sounds far too horrible a fate.”

Will curled his fingers on the loose fabric of his blouse. He felt a little nauseous. “If I tell you the truth, will you keep it hidden from the rest of the world?”

Mr. di Angelo nodded, and his throat bobbed when he swallowed. “Of course.”

“You can never tell anyone else,” Will added. “Even when you will get married, and your husband asks you to share all of your secrets.”

“I promise you. And even if I get married, my husband can never know of you, William.” Mr. di Angelo shook his head. “How could I tell him of the first man that had my heart?”

Will took a deep breath, shutting the pain that blossomed in his chest as the thought of Mr. di Angelo married closed his lungs. He leaned forward, and so did Mr. di Angelo, until Will’s breath was caressing Mr. di Angelo’s cheek.

“Kayla and Austin were born out of wedlock.” Will’s voice was barely a whisper, even less than that, but Mr. di Angelo’s eyes widened slightly. “My father had them after my older brothers’ deaths. I’m not sure Kayla and Austin know. Legally, my mother has adopted them, too. If you look at them closely, you can see that they have both taken my father’s features. If it were known that they are natural-born…”

Will leaned back, looking at Mr. di Angelo, who stayed frozen in place for a long moment, his jaw clenched so tightly a muscle jumped. Then he leaned back, and Will’s heart thundered in his chest. He half-expected Mr. di Angelo to be disgusted with him and his family, as he had been a year prior. Disgust would have been easier to deal with. He already knew what it felt like.

“I will never tell anyone,” Mr. di Angelo said. “I swear on my life.”

Mr. di Angelo wasn’t disgusted by Will when he told him. He wasn’t disgusted when he wrote a letter to Will, nor when he wrote a second. He wasn’t disgusted when Will replied to his letters.

It was at the beginning of Autumn, that Mr. di Angelo showed up unexpected in Meryton, next to his sister. Even she hadn’t told Will they would be visiting, which was to say something, since she seemed to always have something to say in her frequent letters.

They arrived at Longbourn House, Hazel with a beaming smile and Mr. di Angelo with the same, old awkward stance. Will’s heart leaped in his throat.

“It’s nice to see you,” Will said, as Hazel took his hands in hers, without doing much in tearing his eyes from her brother.

“Where is Drew?” Hazel asked, trying to peer behind Will’s shoulder. “You told me she was engaged! Has she married already? I think I missed your letters while we were traveling.”

“You are completely right,” Will mumbled distracted, and Hazel flicked her brother’s forehead, shaking both him and Will out of the trance they had fallen into.

“Now that I have your attention,” Hazel said, ignoring – more likely internally gloating about – their blushes. “May we be invited inside?”

Will stepped aside, and they followed him into the parlor. Will was aware of Mr. di Angelo’s eyes on the back of his head, and the knowledge of being under the man’s scrutiny was enough to have his heart beat wildly in his chest. They had been exchanging letters, but Will never knew how much he could write, when his heart wished to write anything and everything, so that Mr. di Angelo would truly know him, and his mind recoiled at the idea.

“So,” Hazel said, sipping on her tea. “Drew has a fiancée. Piper is engaged. What is the child in the middle planning for himself?”

Mr. di Angelo choked on his tea, his eyes as wide as Will felt his. Hazel’s expression had remained innocent enough, but there was a smug glint in her eyes.

“The child in the middle,” Will said slowly, wishing for Drew to appear magically and steal the thunder he didn’t want. “The child in the middle is happy as he is.”

“I see,” Hazel said, before completely changing the course of the conversation.

She asked about Artemis, how she was doing and whether her organization was still going strong. She also asked about Lacy, as she was the one Will talked of the least in his letters, and he explained that it was because she was actually staying with Artemis, as she was planning on joining the Hunters, as they were called.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen my father so heartbroken,” Will casually commented. “Nor so dramatic, and that is saying something.”

“Shouldn’t he be happy no Alpha nor Beta will steal away his daughter?” Mr. di Angelo asked.

“No Alpha nor Beta, but his sister will, and that to my father is somehow worse,” Will replied.

The conversation moved on, with Mr. di Angelo giving him a playful smile, that brightened his features far more than the sun ever could. Later, Hazel excused herself to use the restroom, and they were alone.

“I wanted to ask,” Mr. di Angelo started, cheeks pink and voice low. “Whether your father knew about my, uh, my proposal.”

Longing bloomed in Will’s chest, and he thought back at Mr. di Angelo, his clothes glued to his body by the rain, the things he had said, which had broken Will’s heart a bit. For a moment, he wished Mr. di Angelo would drop to his knees and ask again.

“He doesn’t,” Will said softly. “Only Piper and Drew.”

Mr. di Angelo nodded. “Thank you.”

“Why do you ask?”

“I was just wondering.”

“And the reason behind that?”

Mr. di Angelo’s lips pulled in a lazy smirk, but it vanished quickly when Will didn’t budge. “It’s embarrassing.”

Will furrowed his eyebrows. “That I said no?” _Ask again, and maybe my answer will change_ , but Will didn’t say that, he pushed the thought away as soon as it emerged.

“The things I said about your family,” Mr. di Angelo said. “Sometimes I stay awake at night, and I wonder how I could have ever thought something like that. And even said it! I shouldn’t even show my face around here.”

Mr. di Angelo looked so distraught, it was impossible for Will not to lean forward, raising his hand to touch Mr. di Angelo’s, let it hover in the air when he realized, and drop it back in his lap.

“My father knows I wouldn’t let you near me, if I didn’t believe you to be a decent man,” Will finally said. The words that followed clawed their way out of his throat, and he didn’t even notice until he spoke them. “And you are much more than decent, Mr. di Angelo.”

Mr. di Angelo blushed even more, and how that was possible Will didn’t know. The door opened, and Hazel returned, completely unaware of the atmosphere in the room. Will leaned back, plastering a smile on his face, and the conversation continued.

It was night when it happened. Will was cuddled in the furs with Drew on one side and Austin sprawled on his chest. He awoke suddenly, at first confused, sniffling the air for the missing scents of Mitchell and Piper, although they had both been gone for some time, his wolf hadn’t gotten used to it yet, and probably never would.

“What was it?” Drew asked, snuggling in Will’s shoulder, words slurred by the deep sleep she had been into. “Go check.”

“You go check,” he replied. “I’m sleeping.”

“Shut up,” Kayla said. “Both of you.”

“Yeah, shut up,” Jonathan repeated.

Before any of them could hiss his name and tell him to be polite, the pounding at the door began again. Will stood upright in bed, as the door of their parents’ room opened, and their shuffling was heard. The siblings didn’t have to think twice about it, before shooting out of bed, too.

They reached the staircase just as Mrs. Solace was offered their guest tea, only to get refused rudely. Will exchanged a look with Drew, before a familiar and aggressive scent of flowers reached his nostrils. His shoulders tensed when he recognized it.

“Call the boy,” Lady Demeter said. “Fetch me William and don’t make me lose any more of my time, Mrs. Solace.”

Will stepped forward on the stairs, just as Austin gasped wordlessly beside him.

“Who is that?” Kayla asked, but Lady Demeter noticed Will, and didn’t give him time to answer.

“I will talk to the boy alone,” Lady Demeter said, her words echoed in the defiling silence. “If everyone else could leave. And there’s no need for the children to stay out of bed this late at night.”

Will hated the judgment in her voice. He hated how she was looking around the room, as though everything was below her. How she looked at Mr. and Mrs. Solace, like it wasn’t her who had awoken the children. Still, when Will caught his father’s eyes, he nodded in affirmation. He wouldn’t cower in front of Lady Demeter nor anyone else.

So that is how Will found himself alone in the parlor with Lady Demeter, the night outside dark, and the silence so heavy he could hear Lady Demeter’s driver talking quietly to the horses.

Did Mr. di Angelo know his grandmother was visiting him? Worse still, had he asked her to?

“It’s late to pay a visit, my lady,” Will said, sitting straight on the sofa.

“I don’t need you to tell me that,” she replied. “And believe me, I have no intention of staying longer than necessary. So tell me straight away, William, do you have any intention of marrying my grandson?”

Will blinked. Was that Mr. di Angelo proposing again? No, it couldn’t be. He had been brave enough to do it once, when Will wasn’t friendly in the least. Surely, if he were to do that again – not that Will wanted him to, obviously – then he would have done so himself. He wasn’t the type of man who hid behind his grandmother’s title and her blunt manners.

“Marrying your grandson?” Will asked.

“I have come to know of his proposal to you last summer,” she said, her eyes as hard as steel.

Will’s heart came to beat in his throat, and he wasn’t sure he would have ever been able to speak again. “Then you must also know that I have refused him, my lady.”

“Don’t be play that game with me. I know Omegas like you. Since you don’t have much but your beauty to flaunt, you chose to seduce him, didn’t you? Don’t start, I know of how you payed him a visit to Pemberley House not long ago, and went to him in the dead of the night to his study.” She had raised a hand to stop him from talking, and it fell again in her lap. “You refused him once, only to feed the spark of want he had for you.” She leaned forward, her scent of sweet flowers enough to make Will’s stomach churn. “But when he asks, you will refuse his proposal again.”

Once again, Will didn’t know what to do except blinking. He imagined Mr. di Angelo proposing to him again, but he see himself saying anything but ‘yes’. However, Mr. di Angelo was far too proud to propose a second time to someone who had rejected him, especially with the sharp words Will had used. Proud, but insecure all the same.

With his heart twisting on itself in his chest, Will replied, “If he asks me again, then I will choose the answer myself.”

“I will find a better match for you,” Lady Demeter continued, unfazed by Will’s words. “Someone even richer than Nicolò, with enough ties to have all of your siblings stably married, too, and your mother taken care of when your father passes away. Promise me you will never accept Nicolò’s proposal, and we will part as friends.”

She smiled, and it was cold and calculating. She thought she had already won. Had she ever been told ‘no’? Was that why it took her so long to read it on Will’s face?

After the silence prolonged for many minutes, her eyebrows furrowed, and her jaw clicked shut.

“As I have already stated,” Will said, and that was the moment she completely understood, and ire fell on her features. “Should Mr. di Angelo ask me again to marry him, I will give him an answer of my own.”

Lady Demeter’s upper lip curled. People had long since evolved from letting their wolves take over, but for a moment, Will thought she might launce herself at him, snarling and trying to rip his throat open. She did none of that.

“You are a fool if you think I will let him.”

“Did he ask for your permission before he proposed the first time?” Will looked over at the door. He thought he had heard a barely contained giggle, but the silence was once again defiling. He stood. “If that is all, Lady Demeter, I would walk you to the door.”

“No need for that,” she said, standing. “I will find it myself. And I will not forget this day anytime soon.”

Will let out a breath he had been holding for far too long. He wasn’t surprised to find his siblings and his parents just outside the parlor. Drew opened her mouth to speak, but Mrs. Solace was quicker.

“What does it mean that Mr. di Angelo proposed to you?” She asked, her voice as high pitched as it could go. Outside, Lady Demeter’s carriage moved, the driver’s shouted orders to the horses loud enough to reach town. Mrs. Solace put her hands on her hips. “And why, good grace, are you not married to him?”

“Mom,” Drew hissed.

When Mr. Solace reached a hand to Will, he stepped back, muttering something about going to sleep, and how late it was. Once alone in his room, Will struggled to find sleep, even with his siblings’ scents around him.

In the morning, Will cared for the garden longer than he usually would have. The sun was high and unforgiving, by midmorning he was covered in dirt and sticky with sweat. Every time Mrs. Solace passed in front of the windows overlooking the garden, she would sigh and tell him to take a bath. Mr. Solace’s eyes never left Will’s back either. He would be asked, at some point, to explain his history with Mr. di Angelo, and he wasn’t sure he was ready.

He had no intention of going through the troubles of cleaning up when he wanted to stay in the garden after lunch, too. It wouldn’t have had been a problem, hadn’t Drew ran out of the house, heavy breath and eyes as wide as saucers.

Will barely restrained himself from screaming. “Is something the matter?”

Why was it so hard to understand that he wanted to be left alone, just for one day? Had he not been humiliated enough the night before? Could he not have peace and quiet? Was it–

“I tried to stop mother,” Drew finally said. “But she is destroying him.”

Will left the huge scissors on the ground, standing on wobbly knees. “What are you talking about?”

“Mr. di Angelo is just outside. And mother isn’t happy about that.”

She also said something else, but Will’s ears were ringing, then he was running. He reached the front of the house, and before he knew it, he was with Mr. di Angelo and Mrs. Solace at the gate.

Mrs. Solace was holding a bouquet of colorful flowers, but Will barely noticed that. Mr. di Angelo’s cheeks were reddened, partly by the heat and partly by Will’s arrival. Except for that, he looked stiffer than ever.

“Hello,” Mr. di Angelo said.

“Could you leave us, please?” Will asked his mother, after flashing a quick smile in Mr. di Angelo’s direction.

Mrs. Solace looked affronted at the request. Her eyes fell to Will’s clothes, to the dirt on his face, and her expression turned even sourer. She shook her head, took a flower out of the bouquet, and tucked it behind Will’s ear.

“Let’s hope it hides the smell,” she muttered.

By the twitch of Mr. di Angelo’s mouth, he heard it. As soon as she stepped away, Will took the flower off, and played with it as he waited for Mr. di Angelo to speak.

“I wanted to apologize for my grandmother’s behavior,” he said, the words leaving his mouth in less than a breath.

Will had been crouched to the ground for too long, and his legs hurt like crazy. So he nodded wordlessly in the direction of the railing on the other side of the road, and they went there to sit.

“I just wanted to let you know that I didn’t ask her to come, nor did I want to,” Mr. di Angelo said. “I only knew in the morning, when I found her in Netherfield. She told me what she talked to you about.”

Will bit his lip. “I see.”

“And I wanted to tell you, I wouldn’t be offended if you accepted. I know you only want to marry the love of your life, so that proposal isn’t for you. My grandmother might help your siblings, if they wanted to.”

Will blinked, feeling as though he was stuck under the rain, even with the sun shining on him. “Are you asking me to accept her offer?”

“I’m trying to understand why you didn’t.”

“You are my friend,” Will said, after a long pause, although the answer didn’t quite feel like the whole truth. “You believed you would have been happy when you asked me to marry you, last Summer. I don’t want anything to do with someone who doesn’t let you find your happiness, only because they don’t agree with you.”

Mr. di Angelo’s eyebrows furrowed. He looked at Will as if he held all the answers in the world, and then some more. It made Will blush to the tip of his ears.

“Do you understand now?” Will asked quietly. If he breathed deep enough, he could find Mr. di Angelo’s scent among that of the fields. He did. For once, he let himself hope.

“No,” Mr. di Angelo said. “I don’t understand.”

“I can’t see my life without you in it.” Will’s throat closed, but he held Mr. di Angelo’s gaze, and continued. “I can’t accept your grandmother’s proposal, when I know that losing you would destroy me.”

Mr. di Angelo shook his head. “I don’t understand,” he muttered.

Before Will could explain it further, scream it at the top of his lungs, Mr. di Angelo stood. He muttered something else, waved his hand, passed it through his hair.

“I’ll take my leave,” he said, the words rushing out of his mouth. “Goodbye, William.”

And Will opened his mouth to speak, trying to ask Mr. di Angelo to – well, what more could he ask? He had already asked him everything.

 _I can’t see my life without you in it_ , he had said. _Stay with me_ , he had implied. _Ask me again_. It wouldn’t have been louder if he had yelled it. It was then that he realized what the dull pain in his chest where his heart beat was. He had been rejected.

He looked down at the flower – Mr. di Angelo’s flower – and scoffed. He went back to the garden.

The morning air left chills on the bare skin of Will’s arms. The sun hadn’t completely risen yet, and the sky was between a dull greyish blue and a vibrant pink. Will strolled aimlessly through the fields, as he had for a while already, with an impending feeling of expectation in his blood. It was far too early for anyone else to be awake. He had sneaked out of his bedroom, leaving his siblings to sleep in peace, without the tossing and turning Drew had complained about at lengths.

All night he had been plagued by an anxiety of sorts, that didn’t let him sleep. Anytime he closed his eyes, and managed to do as much as drifting off, he found himself sitting straight, with his heart beating harder than ever.

He closed his eyes, turning his face to the sky, and taking a deep breath. _Cedar wood_. The fields smelled faintly of _cedar wood_ , for some reason. As soon as Will realized, his name was called.

“William?” Mr. di Angelo asked. He appeared from the fog, wearing clothes much simpler than the ones he usually had, and his hair mussed by the wind. He stopped barely two meters from Will.

“Hi,” Will said, his voice quiet in the dead of the morning. He cleared his throat. “What are you doing here?”

Mr. di Angelo took a deep breath, before he closed the distance between the two of them, and his scent hit Will full force. He was barely a step from Will, and if he raised his hand, he could have caressed the light stubble under Mr. di Angelo’s chin.

“It seems that yesterday I may have misunderstood your words, or not understood them completely,” Mr. di Angelo said, his eyes boring holes in Will’s.

“Misunderstood,” Will repeated.

“Yes. You have already called me stupid on many occasions, I believe. Surely you can’t be surprised!”

Will shook his head. Somehow a smile found its way on his face. “What did you not understand, Mr. di Angelo?”

“When you said you wanted me in your life,” Mr. di Angelo said. “What exactly did you mean? In – in what capacity would you want me?”

Will opened his mouth, then closed it again, without finding a proper answer.

“My grandmother asked you to promise her to never accept a proposal of mine,” Mr. di Angelo continued. “Yet you didn’t.”

“I didn’t,” Will confirmed.

Mr. di Angelo’s shoulders sagged, in which emotion Will didn’t know. He looked behind Will’s shoulder, his mouth thinning in a straight line.

“You didn’t promise my grandmother to not accept another proposal of mine, and told me you want me in your life.” Finally, his dark eyes met Will’s again. “What does it mean?”

“That we both have been far too stubborn since the beginning,” Will said. He reached out a hand, and took Mr. di Angelo’s. Will would have imagined him to be cold, but that was just another prejudice of his, wasn’t it? Mr. di Angelo’s skin wasn’t cold. It was just as warm as Summer. “If you wanted to as well, I would like to try it with you.”

“Try…?”

“Mating. Marriage.”

A beaming smile broke on Mr. di Angelo’s face. “Are you asking me to ask you again to marry me?”

“No,” Will said, tilting his head to the side. “I’m asking you to mate me.”

Mr. di Angelo blinked, and the smile slowly fell from his face. “For real?”

Will let go of his hand. “You don’t have to say yes if you don’t want to.”

“Of course I want to!” Mr. di Angelo exclaimed, and his cheeks quickly turned red. “But do you want to?”

“I’m the one asking, aren’t I?”

“So you want to.”

“Yes.”

“But you always said you would mate the love of your life.”

“I’ll give you a minute to think about it, and then I expect you to find an answer.”

Luckily, Mr. di Angelo understood in less than a minute. Were it otherwise, the wait would have been pure torture for Will.

“So it’s me?” Mr. di Angelo asked, looking little and shy, but also happier than Will had ever seen him.

“Yes.”

“The love of your life.”

“Yes.”

The smile returned in full force on Mr. di Angelo’s face, although the corners of his lips kept twitching, as if he were trying to suppress it. “That’s – that’s the best thing I have ever heard about me.”

Mr. di Angelo’s eyes didn’t leave Will’s, not even when he started laughing, absolutely lost in happiness, nor after Will joined him in it. Will laughed until his stomach cramped, and his eyes shone with tears.

The fog around them was lifting, and the sun breached the clouds in the sky. Mr. di Angelo offered Will his arm, and they walked without a direction. Will found he liked it more with Mr. di Angelo’s company, than when he was alone.

“My grandmother is going to be horrible to you,” Mr. di Angelo said quietly. “When she knows. Hazel will be delighted, and so will my cousins. I think that Persephone will also like you, and at some point Lady Demeter must come around. Probably after we have children. If we will have them.”

Will imagined it. Kids to call his own. “I would like that. What is the Italian word for dad?”

“Papà.”

“Papà,” Will tried. “That’s what they will call you. And they will call me ‘dad’.”

If possible, Mr. di Angelo’s smile widened. They reached the river, and Mr. di Angelo put his coat on the ground where they sat.

“What am I to call you?” Mr. di Angelo asked, his voice quiet.

Will hugged Mr. di Angelo’s arm tighter, playing with his fingers as he gave his response. “Will, when you are happy. William, when you are angry at me and you don’t know how to say it. _Mr. Solace-di Angelo_ , if you are feeling particularly sentimental, and on special occasions.”

“Mr. Solace-di Angelo,” the other tried. “It has a beautiful sound.”

“What about you?”

“Nico,” Mr. di Angelo said. “Call me Nico, and start now.”

“ _Nico_ ,” Will whispered. “Nico. I can do that.”

“I can listen to you do that,” Mr. – Nico said, and immediately blushed.

“Aren’t you adorable, _Nico_?”

“Alright, that’s it, I’m ending this,” Nico grumbled, but made no move to stand, only tightened his grip on Will’s hand. “Do you think your mother is angry at me? She seemed angry at me yesterday.”

“That’s because she knew I had rejected your offer,” Will said. “And then your grandmother’s. She wasn’t angry at you, but at me.”

“And your father?”

“I was his first Omega child. He is protective of me.”

“He won’t challenge me to a duel, will he?”

Will shrugged, biting back a smile. “Who knows. Maybe yes, maybe no.”

It was midday already when Will and Nico walked to Longbourn House. Will dragged Nico through the house, Mrs. Solace’s voice reaching them from somewhere upstairs. Drew was shouting something back from the kitchen.

Will sighed, as Nico shuffled awkwardly on his feet. Where their hands were entangled, shivers ran to Will’s back. He didn’t think he would ever get used to Nico’s touch. _Nico_. Just thinking of the other by name had him blushing.

“Will, is that you?” Mrs. Solace shouted. Then, even louder, “Quit with that piano, Austin! I can’t hear Will! Will?”

Will sent Nico an amused glance. “I have a guest with me!” Without adding anything, he took Nico to his father’s study.

Will knocked on the door, and Nico let go of his hand, to clasp both of his behind his back. He breathed in deeply, looking like he was readying himself for a battle.

“Shout if he attacks you,” Will joked under his breath, when Mr. Solace gave his permission to enter. Nico blanched, and Will opened the door and shoved him forward. Nico stumbled into the room, sending Will one last betrayed look. He closed the door.

“What is this about?” Mrs. Solace asked, startling Will into knocking his head against the door.

Will put his finger on his mouth, shushing her. His siblings looked just as confused as she was.

“Is Mr. di Angelo in there?” Drew asked under her breath, covering her mouth with her hands.

Mrs. Solace’s eyes widened. “How dare he come into our house again!”

“He’s asking for father’s permission to court me,” Will said, without even trying to hide his smile.

Austin shrieked, and Kayla hit his arm to shut him. Then they both started hitting each other.

“But why does he want to marry Will?” Jonathan muttered with furrowed eyebrows, crossing his arms on his chest. If Will had been any less happy, he would have told him to have some manners. As it was, he could only quietly coo at his brother.

Mrs. Solace held her hands on her heart, an expression of pure awe on her face, as she followed forward and tucked Will’s hair behind his ear. “Naomi would be very proud of you,” she said so softly no one else but him would hear. “Not only for this marriage. She would be proud of _you_. I know I am.”

Tears burnt in Will’s eyes, but he blinked them away, the smile on his face was starting to ache, but he couldn’t find it in himself to let go of it.

Kayla shushed them, planting her ear against the door. “I can hear them!” She whispered.

Will put his head against the door as well, and so did Mrs. Solace. Soon enough, they were all finding a place to eavesdrop, coming together like pieces of a puzzle. They were cramped, but had Piper and Mitchell been there, they would have found a place for themselves.

“…you are in love with my son, then,” Mr. Solace was saying.

The confirmation that Nico had already asked for Will’s hand came shortly later, with Nico’s own words. “I wouldn’t be asking for permission on mating him, if that weren’t the case.”

“And does he love you as well?”

“So he tells me, sir.”

“And your grandmother visit, was it to ensure William would accept your proposal?”

“Quite the opposite, sir. I had already asked him once, and he refused, so we never talked of it again. My grandmother came to know of it through a servant, who had read my personal correspondence with a friend. My grandmother came to ensure that, if I were to ask again, William wouldn’t accept.”

“And you still asked him.”

There was a rather long pause after that, and Will could imagine how Nico’s jaw had turned stiff, as it did when he felt particularly awkward. “Actually, he asked me, sir.”

Drew hit Will’s chest, delight shining in her eyes, as he rolled his. Mrs. Solace fanned her face, shaking her head in Will’s direction.

“He’s shy, he wouldn’t have asked again!” Will tried to defend himself in a whisper.

Mrs. Solace nodded. She seemed to accept it for the moment. Will already knew that she would have changed his proposal when she told her friends. ‘Oh, yes, Mr. di Angelo brought a thousand flowers for my Will,’ she would say. ‘Oh, yes, he brought jewelry for the whole family,’ if she were feeling particularly creative.

“And didn’t that offend you?” Mr. Solace asked, and with the curious delight in his voice, Will imagined he had also chuckled. “An Omega asking you?”

“If I were afraid of strong Omegas, I wouldn’t have fallen for your son, sir,” Nico said, and Will found himself flushing, as Drew quietly cooed. “Plus, I was too occupied with being overjoyed to find offense.”

“That is all I want to know from you,” Mr. Solace said. Louder, he continued, “You have permission to enter now, no need to continue acting as though you aren’t all there, sticking your ears to the door.”

Drew didn’t let a beat pass, before opening the door and strolling inside. She dropped on the free chair behind the desk, as Nico was sitting on the one on the other side, and Mr. Solace was standing by the window.

Drew smiled sharply at Nico. “I hear you want to marry my brother,” she said.

Mr. Solace merely sighed. “Come with me to the garden, Will?”

Will sent Nico a reassuring smile before following his father outside. He saw Mrs. Solace reaching out to Nico, muttering something that had the other flush a deep red. Will barely hid a grin.

“So, tell me,” his father asked once they were alone outside. “Do you wish to marry Mr. di Angelo?”

“Yes,” Will said without hesitation. “Although we talked of mating, so he will court me first.”

Mr. Solace nodded, but he didn’t look convinced. “I never saw this coming.”

“We have been friends for a while, now,” Will said. “I’m friends with his sister, too. You met her.”

“But this isn’t about his sister.”

“He is a good man,” Will continued. “He just doesn’t know how to express himself. He seems cold and aloof, but he really isn’t. He’s shy, but once you get to know him, you realize he is just – he is so stupid, and I say this with all the love I have. I literally told him that I wanted him to stay in my life forever, that losing him would destroy me, and today I meet him and he tells me ‘I may have misunderstood you’. I asked him to mate me, and he asked, ‘But didn’t you want to marry the love of your life?’ So believe me when I say, I will need every bit of patience I need.” Will shook his head, smiling softly at the ground. “But he is also so kind.”

“Is he?”

“Yes. Mitchell – he told us that it was Nico who witnessed his marriage to Mr. Lawrence, after convincing the other to marry my brother.”

Mr. Solace furrowed his eyebrows. “He must have paid a fortune. I will have to pay him back, somehow.”

“No, absolutely no! Nico can’t know that you know. If we wanted you to, he would have told you,” Will said. “Also, he warned me against Mr. Lawrence, only a few days before he ran away with Mitchell. It’s much better if he doesn’t know. He – I tried to talk to him once about it, and he said he was sorry about how he kept imposing in my life.”

Mr. Solace shook his head. “I can’t believe you are getting married. Piper, Drew, Mitchell… I always knew they would leave sooner rather than later. The younger ones, too. I look at them, sometimes, and I can see it. Austin and Kayla packing up their music-sheets, moving from one theatre to the next. Lacy joining the Hunt, and I don’t know what Jonathan will do yet, but none of you ever was as restless as he was, always one foot out of the door. But you… I never really thought you would leave.”

“I never really thought of it, either,” Will admitted softly.

“At least, I have the consolation of losing you to a good man.”

“So you give us your blessing?”

“You know I can never deny you a thing.” Louder, he continued, “And now your siblings and Mrs. Solace can get out here, too, since I know they are just behind the door.”

A huff reached them from behind the closed door. “How can you always tell?” Kayla asked.

Will kept the gifts Nico had given them when they were courting in their bedroom. The few jewels – given before Will convinced the other that he didn’t need such expensive gifts – he wore every day, a reminder to both himself and Nico.

Will wore them on the day they left Pemberley on a carriage, Nico’s thumb caressing the back of Will’s hand, intertwined to his, the uncontainable smile he’d had since their adoption application had been accepted brightened his features. He looked young and free, but maybe Will’s opinion was biased.

So Will leaned his head against his husband’s shoulder, and he smiled.

Spring had just begun again.


End file.
